Those Infected by Darkness
by Flareix
Summary: Davis' first "trip" to the digital world wasn't with TK and Kari, it was years ago all by himself and alone. And it wasn't any vacation. No, it was a much, much darker and malicious digital world that awaited Daisuke Motomiya. What will Davis do when he is called upon once to save the digital realm once more? How will this more experienced Davis handle this new threat?
1. Digital Once More

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Digimon ;/

**A/N: **Hello there! This is a new story I'm currently working on where Davis has been to the Digital World before. Though updates may be slow due to school so please be patient.

**CREDITS**: If the title of the story or some plot points seem familiar it's because this _kinda _like a continuation/my own version of the stories "Those Connected by Darkness" and "Those Linked by Darkness" written by **Freddy Oakster **right here on Fanfiction, he has some amazing stories and is an incredible writer. Seriously you should go to his page and read his stories, they're one of the best I've ever read! ;D

**Summary: **_Davis' first "trip" to the Digital World wasn't with TK and Kari, it was years ago all by himself and alone. No, it was a much, much darker and malicious Digital World that awaited Davis Motomiya. _

_**-TIbD- **_

**Chapter 1: **Digital Once More

_"INFINITY CANNON!" yelled the twenty feet behemoth with two nuclear canons on his back as he fired his cannon at a humanoid green-armored insect. The attack hit and the insect fell from the sky. The behemoth roared in triumph while the yellowish-blue aura above him laughed manically._

"_JewelBeemon!" yelled a dark-blue haired boy, who looked to be at most six years old. The boy was about to run to the insect monster before a maroon haired boy who also seemed to be six years old grabbed on to his wrist. He was about to snap at his companion for holding him back, but before he could he saw the look in his eyes. It was clear that there was nothing they could do to help their partners now, except have faith._

_The behemoth known as Millenniummon was about to finish off the insect when he received a kick on his right cheek, a blue armored Human-Like Dragonoid flew back after landing his kick. He released his right neon blue energy sword from his right bracelet and was ready to fly straight ahead to stab the beast but was only swatted by one of the said monster's claws like a fly. Right before the dragon-man hit the ground however, a figure that could only be described as a futuristic superhero with a red scarf caught him midair._

"_Thanks, Justimon," thanked the blue dragon, before refocusing his attention on the matter at hand. _

_"Heh, no prob man." replied the superhero-like figure as they dodged yet another one of the cannon blasts. Both were trying to stop the monster from finishing off their friend. _

"_Hah! You missed!" yelled the being known as Justimon as he dodged what seemed to be a poorly aimed shot when..._

"_Wait isn't that where…" said the blue dragon before understanding and fear was filled in his eyes. Time seemed to slow down as the two digital monsters realized where the blast was heading, and both futilely tried to rescue the two boys who were screaming as the cannon blast was heading towards them…_

Twelve-year-old Daisuke "Davis" Motomiya woke up in a start. He was visibly shaking, his breathing was heavy, sweat was flooding down his body and his heart was beating so fast he feared that it might rip his own out of his chest, from his nightmare.

After some deep breathes, he finally took in his surroundings, he was in his bedroom Motomiya residence, not at the Dead Desert of the Digital World, he wasn't about to blow out of existence by a dimension-shredding blast. He reminded himself he was twelve years old, not six. It was hard to believe that those events had unfolded a little over six years ago now.

"Just a dream, just a dream. Nothing more, nothing less. Millenniummon isn't going to come and blast me, it was just a dream, just a dream" Davis repeated trying to calm himself down.

Five minutes after calming himself, Davis sat up and checked his clock and saw it read 5:30. He groaned in at his misfortune. He could have gotten at least another hour of sleep before the first day of school, but not anymore because of that stupid blast from the past nightmare.

Davis forced himself to get up so he could ready for school, he found the light switch and turned on the light for his room. As he opened his wardrobe looking for clothes to wear, his eyes unconsciously went over to the digital device at the corner. It was a small device, somewhat rectangular in shape with a small grey screen with an antenna on the top-right corner. He instinctively took it out and put it in his pocket. He didn't know why he did it, after all, it had been years since he even touched the device, but he felt as something was calling him through the device.

After brushing his teeth and taking his morning shower, Davis went to the living room hoping to make himself breakfast. Just as he was about to sit down to eat his bowl of cereal, a gust of wind blew past him, stopping him in his tracks. It should be impossible, he was inside, there should be no wind, he didn't open the windows. Davis looked around, then at the window and saw a bird flying by, except it wasn't. It was completely still like it was flying in a movie and someone hit the pause button. He subconsciously let the spoon drop and that's when he saw that it didn't fall, it stayed midair. Apparently, time had been frozen.

"**It is time, child of miracles. Your worlds are intertwined once more."**

Davis spun around like a bullet and saw an ominous looking humanoid figure standing behind him. The figure was around the height of an average adult human male. It was wearing a large black cloak and a black hood that hid the figure's face. "Who are you and what are you doing here?!" Davis instantly asked angrily.

The figure ignored his question and went off to state, **"The darkness is gathering, so much that it threatens the strings of reality itself. It has already tied itself to the digital realm. Only you can stop it." **

"What do you mean, what darkne-" Davis was replied before being cut off.

"**Only you know your enemy's true power. Be cautious, do not take this lightly. Heed my warning well, Daisuke Motomiya." ** Those words, where had Davis heard those before? They kept repeating in his head, he remembered, he had heard them before, in his nightmares and in the past.

"_You can't even fathom the power that your enemy holds, children. We have no leads as to where this abomination has come from but one thing, we do know is that he is pure evil. You may strong, chosen children but this monstrosity is in a league of its own. He can bend time and space itself to his will. If you wish to save all of reality itself, you need to match the power of a god. Be cautious young ones._

Those were the last words the sovereign of the east, the blue dragon had said to Davis and his friends before their first encounter with Millenniummon. His warning was not unfounded though if anything it was underestimating the behemoth.

Davis shivered as he understood the implications of those words, but in a last dish effort of denial, he yelled, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN!? Millenniummon was destroyed over six years ago! Veemon and I made sure of it!"

The mere thought a such a beast coming back made Davis' blood boil in rage and at the same go cold with fear, they barely destroyed him the first time but then they had access to sources that weren't available anymore. Time and space itself were distorted by Millenniummon's mere presence to the point where after he was destroyed, the power that kept the gate between the real world and Digital World open was completely annihilated and thus separating the two dimensions seemingly forever. And truth be told, Davis hoped that it would stay that way.

**"I've accomplished what I have been sent here to do, again Child of Miracles heed my warning!" **Those were the last words the figure spoke to Davis before he was engulfed in 0's and 1's. There was another gust of wind and time returned to normal, a _clang _could be heard in the background as the metal spoon hit the table but all of it went unnoticed by Davis. He was still frozen in shock

'_What does this mean? Am I going to have to go back again?' _Davis thought. He shook his head. _'No use worrying about it now, I still need to get ready for school.' _With that final thought Davis went up to his room to change into his school uniform, leaving his cereal untouched.

_**-TIbD- **_

Davis was standing outside the apartment that the Kamiyas lived, he was about to leave when he heard a girl yelling "Bye mom, I got to go! The first day of school and gah I still have to pick up Dav-" she stopped when she saw Davis standing outside seemingly waiting for someone. The girl was Hikari "Kari" Kamiya, she had short brown hair and was Davis' best friend.

"Davis? Is that you?" she asked astonished. "Wow, it is you, your waiting for _me_, that's a first." She said playfully.

Davis groaned at the implied insult, it was no secret that he was a heavy sleeper and was almost always late to school. "Yeah, well I woke early today, okay? Sheesh, you make it sound as if you always have to wait for me to go to school." Davis replied dully.

"Wait, _you _woke up _early?_ The world is going to end! Everyone run for your lives!" countered Kari dramatically while throwing her arms up for extra effect but stopped suddenly and asked worriedly "Does this have anything to do with the nightmares, Davis?" Kari was growing concerned, for the past few weeks Davis hasn't been his cheery self, most of the time ignoring everyone, being a downer and sometimes even snapping at people – excluding Kari of course.

"No… okay maybe… Look it's nothing to worry about, come we'll be late for school!" said Davis anxiously. Though he was happy that his friend was concerned, he couldn't explain it to her, how could he? He was having nightmares from his past when he traveled to a parallel digital universe and saved it from a monster trying to destroy reality itself, not something you would say to a normal person without having them think you're crazy. Besides, if the warning the stranger was correct and he had to go back, he didn't want Kari to become a target for associating with him, he would keep her safe at all costs.

"Okay fine..." replied Kari, though that look in her eyes definitely said that they weren't finished with this conversation.

The walked the rest of the way to school in unusual silence, each lost in their own thoughts. One thinking of another world, the other worried about the former.

_**-TIbD-**_

The class waited for the teacher to come in to start the day's lesson. Well in _some _people's cases, they waited for class to go by and finish already. Finally, the door opened, and the teacher came in. "Good morning class. Today we have a new student joining us for the school year," Said the teacher in the usual monotone voice all algebra professors have. She motioned a blond-haired boy to come up front.

"Hello everyone, my name is Takeru Takaishi, but please call me TK. I hope I can get to know all well and have a pleasant time in this school, thank you," said the boy known as Takeru before bowing to the class. The teacher nodded at the boy and said, "Thank you, Mr. Takaishi, please take a seat at an empty desk." The blond boy nodded back at the teacher and proceeded to take an empty seat next to Kari. Davis mentally groaned at the new student's introduction, he seemed like one of those "well mannered" kids, those that good grades because they actually seemed like they were paying attention. He was already starting to dislike this new student.

"Together again huh?" whispered Kari as the blond sat at the desk. "Yeah, just like old times" grinned TK after making sure the teacher was looking the other way.

Davis raised an eyebrow; it wasn't like Kari to converse with strangers with such familiarity. So why would she talk to a seemingly stranger like that in class of all times? '_Whatever, it's not important right now.' _thought Davis before he laid his head on his desk and closed his eyes, catching up on some much-needed rest. He really didn't care that he was missing the lesson, it's not like it's something he doesn't already know or understand.

To bad though, as if he even stayed awake for just a couple seconds longer, he would have heard TK whisper, "Our teacher looks like an Ogremon."

_**-TIbD- **_

Chaos, that was the state the digital realm known as the "Digital World" was in. Everything went downhill when the dark blue haired human had shown up in the world. He called himself the "Digimon Emperor" and used jet-black rings to enslave Digimon and to force them to do his bidding.

These rings were one of the cruelest and foul devices to ever exist. They completely bent the will of the unfortunate wearer and causes them to go wild. What's worse is that it amplifies the strength of the Digimon also, making it hard to free those under the control of the rings.

Currently, the infamous Emperor was showing himself in public, hoping to spread some fear to the digital inhabitants of the world. He raised his hands up to the sky as his dark rings floated around him then he thrust his hands forward and the rings propelled forward as well, looking to capture and enslave Digimon.

"Run for your lives, it's the Digimon Emperor!" yelled a Gazimon that was running away from the rings. More Digimon could be seen running away as well, among them was a small orange t-rex-like Digimon. Unfortunately, he tripped on a rock and hit terra firma, hard. The dinosaur was really missing his human partner right now. If only he could digivolve… The last words uttered by said dinosaur before unconsciousness claimed him was "Tai, help me…"

Unknown to the tiny t-rex, his partner heard his plea for help via digivice and was already heading to help him.

_**-TIbD- **_

Davis was all but dragged himself to his locker after his last period. The first day of school could have gone better, he was caught sleeping in class twice by his teachers, though thankfully he didn't earn himself detention. As if that wasn't enough, he got the scolding of a lifetime from his childhood friend, Kari, at lunch, after that she all but interrogated him about his nightmares and asked if she could help. Davis, with extreme difficulty, patiently told her that it was most likely just stress about starting the new school year and it wasn't anything to worry about. It didn't take a genius to tell that she didn't believe him for a second.

It's not that he mad at her with her constant pestering, he was actually flattered that she was so worried about him; but he _couldn't _tell her. How could he tell her that he was having nightmare-flashbacks about his time in a parallel digital dimension that he traveled to when he was six. He subconsciously gripped the digivice latched on to his belt, he brought it to school after the cryptic warning he received this morning just in case something happened. Davis sighed and shut his locker and was about to leave when…

"Hey, Davis!" Davis turned around and saw Kari and that new blond kid, TE was his name? Walking towards him.

"Hey Kari, TY," Davis replied trying his best to sound lively, though it was obvious he was under a lot of strain and stress.

"It's TK," said Kari a little reprimanding. Davis just merely nodded. To be honest he could care less what this new kid's name was, it not like the blond was anything important to Davis; he was just another random kid that was in his class. Anyhow, why did he insist on being called "TK," where did the "K" come from? Takeru? The K's not even the last letter in the name, so why was it a K?! At least go for initials so it would be "TT," not "TK."

Trying to get his attention, Kari said, "I don't think you two have been properly introduced before…" It worked, the goggle-headed boy shook from his thoughts and looked and Kari and nodded.

"Okay, Davis, this is TK, a friend my brother made at summer camp around four years ago. TK, this is Daisuke "Davis" Motomiya, one of my oldest and closest friends." she introduced with a smile.

TK sprang up when he heard Kari refer Davis as "one of my oldest and closest" friends. "Really? How long have you two known each other?" he questioned

Davis quirked an eyebrow before giving a slight smirk as the realization hit him, _'Seems like someone is a little… interested in Kari' _he thought smugly.

Kari, who was completely oblivious to the hidden meaning in the question nonchalantly replied "I believe eight, nine years now, right Davis? We just met one day, and everything snowballed from there." She was smiling now as if recalling a pleasant memory.

TK was about to reply when a purple haired girl came running towards them with a paper in her hand. Davis recognized her as Yolei Inoue, from the school's computer club.

"Excuse me, your Kari Kamiya, right?" she asked Kari.

Kari was taken back by that, she wasn't usually being searched for from other students, that was Davis' job; like that one time when he climbed on the school's roof during recess and sent the entire class in a panic attack trying to look for him. Davis was having a bad feeling about this, there was _no way _this was going to end well. Kari hesitantly nodded at the girl.

"Well, are you related to Taichi Kamiya? Because I got this e-mail and I think it's for you," she said before showing the paper to Kari. From what Davis could see from his angle, it was a message though he couldn't make out what it said. Whatever it was however made Kari worry as right after reading it she replied, "My brother needs our help!" before making a break for it, towards the computer lab.

Davis groaned before running after her. _'I swear, that girl has too much energy' _Taking the hint, TK and Yolei ran after Davis.

On their way to the computer lab, they met Koushiro "Izzy" Izumi, a friend of Tai's who also got the e-mail. When they finally reached the lab, Izzy immediately sat in a chair in front of a computer and set to work, doing goodness knows what.

"So... what's the 'Digital World,' Kari? I mean that's what Tai said, he needed help in the Digital World, is it a new video game or something?" Yolei asked, trying to pass the time.

Davis instantly tensed on hearing this and connected the dots. _'Tai is in the DIGITAL WORLD? And Kari knows about that? Do they know about the Digimon? Is that what that guy was talking about this morning?' _thought Davis, once again thinking about the warning he had received earlier today.

Izzy, Kari, and TK all paled at the question. They had been so focused on helping Tai that they forgot Non-DigiDestined were present. Izzy was desperately trying to think of an excuse or lie to get them out of this, when…

"T-the Digital World?" Davis stuttered, trying to ignore all the signs that pointed to one conclusion, he would be going back to the parallel world.

Yolei looked back at Davis curiously as if wondering why he was stuttering and seemed _afraid? _ She shook it off and replied "Yeah, that's what the e-mail said… Do you guys know what it is though?"

"Uh… um... I-it's a game that Izzy has been programming for the computer club at his school. Uh… He asked us to help him with it, Tai probably messed up the coding or something like that, he's never been good with computers." Davis inwardly cursed; he was usually a lot better at lying but the shock of the Digital World had caught him by surprise.

"Oh... Well, I can help you guys!" the purple haired girl replied enthusiastically.

"NO! I-I mean you can't, Izzy is making it a surprise and he doesn't want anyone to see it. His school's computer club is going to come and show it to us, and you don't want to ruin the surprise, do you?" Davis lied, doing a little better this time.

Yolei seemed to want to argue, but then a small brown-haired boy came in the room. His name was Cody Hida. He was panting and looked around the room until his eyes rested on Yolei.

"There you are Yolei. I've been looking all over for you! You promised to fix my computer, remember?" the boy asked

Yolei jerked in surprise and said "Oh crap! Sorry Cody, I forgot! I needed to Kari with something… Let's go, the computer isn't going to fix itself." She turned back to Kari and the others and quickly said: "See you guys tomorrow!" Before leaving the room with Cody.

Izzy, Kari, and TK all let out a breath they didn't know they had been holding. Izzy was about to go back to work but of course, Kari picked up on the thing they all missed.

"Um… Davis… How d-do you know about the Digital World?" she hesitantly asked TK and Izzy also perked up at as they realized that Davis somehow knew about their secret and looked at him cautiously.

Kari had been expecting many answers such as "I've heard about you and Tai talking about it" or "Tai told me" or something of that nature. What she didn't expect was for Davis to reach to his belt and reveal and small digital device… A digivice. The same model as theirs.

"A digivice!" Izzy exclaimed

"No way!" the blond said

Kari, again, asked the question they all wanted the answer to. "Y-you're a DigiDestined, like us?" Davis slowly nodded. _'DigiDestined? That's what they call themselves?' _Davis thought.

Before any more words could be exchanged, the computer Izzy was working on suddenly flared to life and three beams of light came out of it, one blue, one yellow, and one red. The blue beam of light shot straight for Davis' digivice and hit it straight on while the red and yellow went out the door.

When the beam of light hit the small digital device, it changed right before their eyes. When it was finished, the digivice was more oval-like, it had a gray body and light blue grips on the sides. Three buttons were visible on the device and it was accompanied by a small screen and small black antenna on the top-left.

Everyone stood in shock as they watched the transformation before their eyes. Davis was especially shocked at the new development. His digivice that he had used on his first adventure to had just _morphed _into a new device, still a digivice, but different.

"A new digivice, neat. Wonder if it has free Wi-Fi?" Davis commented nonchalantly. Though he seemed calm at this new development, Davis inwardly swore he saw this digivice somewhere before. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Prodigious!" replied Izzy looking at the new device in wonder. "A new digivice! I can examine it and-" Izzy was cut off by Kari.

"No time! My brother needs our help, I'm going!" she said before pointing her digivice at the screen, TK followed suit. Davis however, hesitated. How long has it been since he went into that cruel place? Could he really do it again, was he ready? No was the answer to both questions, but then his thoughts drifted to Kari and her older brother who was stuck in the Digital World. What kind of friend would he be if he didn't try and help him and instead just cowered away? A horrible one, heck if he did, then he didn't even deserve to be called their friend. His thoughts then shifted to a certain blue wise dragon and a piece certain advice he gave to Davis specifically oh so long ago.

"_When hardships and difficult times confront us, we are all faced with a choice. A choice between doing what is right, and what is easy. It is that choice that defines who we are."_

Back then when he was faced with those words as a naïve six-year-old, he couldn't make heads or tails out of it, but now, now was a different story. Without a second of hesitation, Davis pulled his new digivice towards the screen, ready to face whatever lies beyond.

Just then Yolei and Cody came back into the lab - with similar looking digital devices as the one Davis was holding, except it was red and yellow respectively – just in time to see TK, Kari, and Davis yelling "Digi-Port OPEN!" towards a computer and disappearing in a flash of blue light. Izzy was about to follow when he heard Yolei stutter "W-What just HAPPENED?!"

Izzy cursed himself for being so foolish to let normal kids see them go to the Digital World, but then he noticed the two devices they were holding. He connected the dots and sighed; this was going to be one _long _explanation.

_**-TIbD-**_

Davis opened his eyes to see a beautiful forest, filled with fruitful tropical trees, just like the first time he came here. It was all so familiar and so peaceful. Like Millenniummon's rampage never happened. But Davis wasn't fooled by the beauty, he knew that any one of these plants or leaves could be a deadly Digimon looking for its next meal.

Another thing he realized was that his clothes changed, he was now wearing a jacket, the left of the said jacket had a red and orange flaming design and a blue background. The right side of the jacket; however, was completely different. It still had the flame design, but instead of red and orange flames, it was black and dark grey flames with a light grey background. The weird flame colors went around the jacket too, the red flames going all the way to the back of the jacket and stopping the middle where it met the black flames.

He was also now khaki shorts and a white t-shirt under the jacket. The final touch to his new look was the dark grey gloves on his hands. Of course, his ever-trusty square lens goggles were still present.

He just shrugged it off, now was not the time to dwell on new clothes. He spotted TK and Kari a little ahead of him in a clearing in the forest. Kari was messing with her digivice, probably trying to find Tai's signal while TK was looking around, he spotted Davis walking up towards them and waved.

Davis walked up to them and saw that Kari was still pushing what seemed like random buttons on her digivice, but Davis knew that button combination, it was the locator combination.

TK saw Davis' new look and commented "Cool outfit, Davis" Kari looked up when TK said that and also saw Davis' new look, "Nice clothes, Davis, they look cute on you. And they definitely fit your personality," the brunette said cheekily.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" asked Davis but Kari was already looking back at her digivice. TK shrugged off the sudden feeling in his chest and looked towards Davis and with innocent curiosity asked "So Davis, you've been here before? How was your first time in the Digital World?"

Davis inwardly winced as flashbacks of his first time in this digital dimension surfaced up in his mind, and crossly stated "None of your concern, TJ."

Before TK could retort, Kari suddenly jumped up and pointed northeast and stated, "Tai's this way" and headed towards that way. TK and Davis followed suit. They kept walking towards the direction where the signal was coming from, hoping to reach their fellow DigiDestined soon. Davis could feel TK's gaze on his back, but he ignored it. He just wanted to help Tai and get the heck out of here.

They didn't have to wait long to find out as minutes later a white cat with purple ears and yellow gloves, an orange hamster with a white belly and matching orange bat-like wings, ran towards them. The cat towards Kari and the hamster towards TK. Davis recognized them as Gatomon and Patamon, a rookie and a champion Digimon respectively. Judging by the looks of pure joy on the faces of TK and Kari, Davis guessed that they were their partners.

Ignoring the pang of jealousy in his chest he looked back ahead to see a small orange dinosaur, an Agumon, and a brown-haired boy with goggles walking towards them, though unlike Davis' goggles, the lens was circular instead of square and the headband was both blue and black instead of just black.

"Hey Tai" Davis greeted the older boy casually.

"Hey Dav- wait DAVIS? What are you doing here?" Tai asked surprised to see his friend in the Digital World.

"Long story short, Davis here apparently is a DigiDestined like us," TK answered, joining in the conversation with Patamon resting on his head. Davis just ignored them both, he just wanted to go back to the real world and fast, though he had a feeling that wasn't going to be happening anytime soon, at least not easily.

Instead of going back home like how Davis desperately wanted, the orange dinosaur that was known as Agumon and was Tai's partner led them to a cave where Tai said he and the orange dinosaur found a weird looking digi-egg.

As they were walking Tai was filling them in on everything happening in the Digital World so far. Digimon Emperor, Dark Rings, Control Spirals and how they were controlling Digimon. Though Davis was half-heartedly paying attention. Finally, they reached the cave, and they entered.

In roughly the middle of the cave, there was an elevation in the stone, forming a small pillar with a strange looking egg on it. The egg was fiery and orange and had a metal spike coming out of the top and a symbol of the sun on the front.

"There it is, that's the egg we were talking about. Look it has the Crest of Courage on it." _'Oh, so that's what it is. Wait _crest, _like the ones Ryo, Ken, and I had? Well, Azulongmon did say there were eleven, so I guess it makes sense.' _Davis thought. TK was the first of them to try and pick up the egg… and fail miserably falling on his bottom when he tried to pick up the unusual egg. Davis snickered lightly causing Kari to slightly glare at him.

"Move it, this is a women's job!" Kari said before pushing TK aside to try and pick up the egg, only to fail. Kari then asked Davis if he wanted to try and pick up the and as he was about to respond, Davis' blood went cold with an all too familiar sick feeling. That aura, he felt it before, it shouldn't be possible, he was dead, but sure enough, it was _his _aura. The others couldn't feel that dark aura, but Davis could. He looked over to see a dark ring hovering in the open, radiating with the aura Davis felt/

_**-TIbD- **_

"No, it can't be! He can't be here! This can ruin everything, everything I've worked so hard for! Damn you Motomiya!" cursed the Digimon Emperor. He was currently spying on the DigiDestined through holographic video images that are recorded from god knows where. His eyes were currently focused on a certain maroon haired goggle-headed boy.

He had to do something before this got out of hand, opening his menu on all nearby Digimon he checked it over. Damn it! None of his strongest are near, where's Andromon when you need him? He'll just have to make this work for now.

After pressing a couple of red holographic buttons, one of the screens showed a black and grey triceratops being released from a cage and running wild. Another screen showed a similar cage, although this one was definitely bigger and showed more of those triceratopses being released.

"Attack Monochromon!" the obvious psychopathic blue-haired boy yelled. After programming their target in their dark rings, the Emperor stood up and left the room. He had to re-evaluate his plans due to this new _development_.

_**-TIbD- **_

But when the black ring left the chamber, Davis was able to feel another presence in this cave. He was so focused on his hate for _his _aura that he didn't even realize it until now. But how could it be? His friend died right before his very own eyes; he saw it! Even Elecmon said that his partner couldn't be reborn, and he was a master on digi-eggs! So why was he feeling his presence, his _aura _after six whole years, in a cave of all places? _'Wait, could it be? Could it be coming from there? It is! I know it, it's coming from the egg,' _thought Davis before refocusing his attention on the fiery egg, the only thing special in this seemingly normal cave.

"Hey, let me give it a try," Davis said, getting a nod from Tai and Kari. Though as he was about to bend over and try to pick up the ground started shaking vigorously, throwing them off balance.

"W-what's going on, TK?" asked the orange bat-winged hamster

Davis mentally cursed, he knew this type of quake, it wasn't natural. One of the last times he felt it… he had less than a pleasant experience.

_A dark blue haired boy and a maroon haired boy were talking and laughing as they traveled in the forest accompanied by a green foot-long caterpillar and a blue dinosaur. The boys seemed to be around the age of five or six. _

Kari leaned against a wall for support, while TK and Tai were waving their arms around trying to steady themselves. _'A dumb move, while you're moving like that, someone could easily blast you into next week. I guess these guys are more inexperienced than I first thought,'_ analyzed Davis as he instinctively bent down on one knee and put his hands firmly against the ground.

This stance was one of the best for situations like these, not only does it steady the body, but you could easily roll away from an oncoming attack effortlessly, and it was easy to get back up from this stance if the user needed to make a quick getaway. After a few seconds, the earthquake ended and everyone made it out mostly unscathed, sans the bit of dust on them.

"Everyone alright?" yelled Tai as the ground returned to normal. He received a collective nod from the rest of the group.

While TK and Kari were trying to dig out their partners from the rubble Davis suddenly got a feeling of dread in his chest, he just _knew _something bad was going to happen.

'_Pull yourself together Motomiya! You survived this godforsaken world the first time when you were _six_, surely you can do it at age _twelve_!' _Davis reprimanded himself as he shook his head, ignoring the feeling in his chest.

"Davis, aren't you going to try and pick up the egg?" reminded Kari

"Huh? Oh yeah, alright, I'll try" replied Davis as he walked closer to the egg. As he got closer, the aura and presence he felt earlier were getting stronger. There was no mistaking it, it _was _his old friend's aura.

Davis took a deep breath and slowly picked up the egg. Surprisingly it was very light, completely contradicting what it showed before. Just as he picked up the egg a beam up sky blue light erupted from where the egg was seconds ago, and a dark silhouette could be seen forming.

Normally, Davis would be looking for a weapon to use against the new potential enemy, but not this time. He felt oddly at peace as the silhouette grew and the beam of light went straight up to the ceiling of the cave like he was inviting an old friend who had just come from a long adventure.

Then it struck Davis as the beam of light descended until it just above the figure, he _recognized _that silhouette, but it should be impossible. But it isn't, he was right here, right before him. The light disintegrated and the figure was visible. It was a small blue dragon with a white belly, red eyes, and a yellow "V" was visible on his forehead, it also had a small blue tail.

The small blue dragon's eyes surveyed the cave, looking for the human who picked up the Digi-Egg of Courage. His eyes kept traveling. His previously weary and calculating eyes instantly shifted to pure joy when they rested on Davis, who wore an expression of disbelief, joy, sadness, and hope.

"Davish! It's you!" said the blue dragon in a childish voice before he proceeded to tackle the maroon goggle-headed boy.

It took a moment for Davis' mind to process what was happening. Veemon was here, he was _not _an illusion, and this was not a dream. It should be impossible after what Veemon did, firing off an attack literally ripped a hole in reality. But that didn't matter now, all that did was that Veemon was here, with him, where he belonged.

"V-Veemon, I-I can't believe it's a-actually you, you're here!" Davis managed to croak out before floods of tears shed from his eyes, he pocketed the digi-egg and returned the hug that the blue dragon was giving him.

Kari watched the tearful reunion of two best friends with a warm smile. She didn't know who that blue dragon was, but it was obvious that he was important to Davis and that Davis was happy to see him, he was crying after all. Wait _crying? _Davis was _crying?_ Kari suddenly felt something tighten in her chest and she connected the dots. Davis wasn't really an emotional person except for his happy and cheerful personality; besides that, he never showed his emotions to anyone, especially negative ones. She was sure that besides his family, she was the only one to ever see Davis without his emotional barriers in place. For him to cry in public, in a place like this, it meant that something was wrong. Very wrong.

The group was pulled out of their respective thoughts by the beeping of Davis' digivice, as if trying to warn them of something. Davis reluctantly pulled away from Veemon just as a roar was heard from outside the cave.

"Let's move, if we stay, we'll be sitting ducks!" declared Davis before motioning towards the exit. The sudden change in tone made Kari do a doubletake on her best friend, instead of reluctance and hesitant tone she heard when the first came here, it was full of confidence. That's when she saw the look in his eyes, something she hadn't seen in a long time. Eyes filled with determination and confidence; it was a newly lit fire.

They all made a break for the exit. Waiting for them was the black and grey triceratops that was on the Emperor's screen before, it was a Monochromon, fully equipped with a dark ring, ready to pounce on its prey.

While Tai, Kari, TK, and their partners looked fearful, Davis only cracked a smile. He took off his goggles and handed them to Kari and said, "Hold on to these for me, will yeah?" Kari looked bemusedly at the goggles in her hand before deciding to put them around her neck and watching her friend do his work.

He ran straight towards the dinosaur with his digivice in hand, though he only made it a couple of feet before Tai yelled "Davis wait! You can't take on a champion with a rookie and digivolution is impossible with the dark digivice in play!"

Davis stopped running along with Veemon, with the former turning back to face Tai. Tai expected to see a couple things on Davis' expression when he turned to face him, fear, disbelief, and surprise were some of them. What he didn't expect though was for Davis to give him a confident smirk. "Well, that just means-" Davis started as he slowly faced the dinosaur Digimon once more. Veemon continued off where Davis left off "we'll have to do-" and then they both yelled at the same time, "do this the old fashion way!" before they both continued running off towards the champion dragon Digimon, with the human picking up alone stick on the ground that was about two feet long.

Tai was about to go and run after Davis and Veemon when Kari grabbed his hand. She shook her head, signaling that he shouldn't interfere and to leave this to Davis. Tai was about to argue when he saw her eyes, they were filled with confidence, confidence in Davis. He reluctantly stopped and watched has Davis and Veemon made it to Monochromon.

Monochromon roared as if accepting the challenge and charged at the miracle duo. Just as they reached Monochromon, the duo of miracles split, Veemon going left and Davis going right. Monochromon, as ordered, went after Davis and just as it was about to tackle Davis, he felt something hit his left cheek. It was Veemon, who used his V-Headbutt attack, knocking him off balance, growling in irritation, the gray dinosaur decided to take out the blue dragon first.

Monochromon was preparing to unleash his Volcanic Strike to finish off Veemon, Davis came out of nowhere and slammed the wooden stick against the right side of Monochromon's face this time. After successfully annoying the triceratops, Veemon and Davis turned tail and ran straight ahead. After they were about 10 feet ahead of the dragon Digimon, Davis looked over his shoulder and smirked before looking back ahead and jumping seemingly for no reason other than to make himself an easy target. Monochromon, seeing an easy way to complete his mission took the bait and unleashed his special attack.

"_**Volcanic Strike!" **_yelled Monochromon as he opened his mouth and unleashed three red-orange fireballs straight at the still airborne Davis.

Everyone screamed as the fireballs closed on Davis thinking he was done for, only to stop when the saw Veemon grab Davis' right arm which he held out, and roughly push down the maroon haired boy back to terra firma, avoiding the dangerous fireballs. Davis and Veemon shared a small smirk before Veemon went northeast from where originally were running and Davis continued running forward, but not before yelling "Come and get me you stupid dino-face juristic reject!" at Monochromon.

Roaring in frustration at missing his kill and being insulted, the "juristic reject" charged straight at Davis, who was running straight headfirst in a tree. Time seemed to slow down as Monochromon was mere inches from tackling Davis, who was still running straight for a tree, Davis jumped at the last possible second and grabbed a lone branch, pulling him up and out of harm's way. Monochromon tried to stop himself from ramming into the tree and would have succeeded if Veemon, who again came out of nowhere, used his V-Headbutt, pushing the moving Monochromon right at the tree's trunk and knocking him out cold.

Davis let go of the branch and hi-fived Veemon after he made quick work of the dark ring around Monochromon's belly, courtesy of a couple V-Headbutts.

The other chosen children and chosen Digimon just watched in awe and disbelief at what they just witnessed. "They took out a champion with only a _rookie!_" explained Tai.

"What just happened?" asked the flying hamster in disbelief.

Kari, the first one to regain her composure said with a smirk "Well, that's Davis for yeah!" Unknown to the Kamiya siblings, TK frowned when Kari said that.

Davis and Veemon walked up to the group. Tai was the first to greet them, by giving the maroon haired boy a brotherly slap on the back while commenting "That was awesome Davis!" the boy in question just gave him a smile and modestly said "It was nothing, besides I couldn't have done it without Veemon" while turning to his blue friend who was currently getting pestered by the orange t-rex and hamster and the white cat. Before anymore celebration could be done though, a group reptilian roar got the Digimons' and humans' attention alike.

Charing out of the forest was a herd of ten Monochromon, all with a dark ring and boy did they look mad.

"Crap, we can't take them all on, everyone run!" Davis commanded before taking Kari's hand running in the opposite direction from where the Monochromon were at. They all ran for it and Davis risked a look over his shoulder and saw that the Monochromon were all preparing to fry them.

"Everyone DUCK!" Davis commanded again as he pulled Kari to the ground. TK, Tai, and the Digimon took the hint and also threw themselves on the ground, just in time to see thirty fireballs shoot over their heads. Tai and TK pulled themselves off the ground and started running again and soon so did Davis, but they all stopped when they heard Kari shriek "Davis help me!"

They all turned around to see Kari still on the ground, her hands on her right ankle, with a rock under it. _'Curse it all! She must've hit the rock when we fell. Damn it, I should have seen the rock!' _Davis cursed mentally. The DigiDestined of Hope and Courage were frozen in fear, unable to help their friend. All of this was too familiar, Davis remembered what happened last time all too clearly.

_The blue and maroon haired boys stopped laughing and walking when they heard a reptilian roar. There, behind them was a black and grey triceratops-like Digimon, looking hungry. _

Time seemed to slow down as the Monochromon started charging straight at them, at Kari.

_The boys and their monster friends started running away from the triceratops. _

The Monochromon were fifteen feet from Kari

_They seemed to be in the clear as they were at least fifteen feet ahead of the black and grey dinosaur Digimon._

Ten feet away

_But then the blue-haired boy tripped on a rock, spraining his right foot and making himself an easy target._

Five feet

_"Davis help me!" yelled the blue-haired boy in panic as the monster was gaining on him._

Four feet

_The maroon haired boy stopped running and turned around to see his friend on the ground, unable to move. The maroon haired boy was frozen in fear, he couldn't do anything to help his friend. His companion was going to die!_

Three feet

_At the last possible second the green caterpillar yelled _"Sticky Net!"

Two feet

_It shot out sticky silk, aiming for the back of the boy's shirt. The thread stuck and the caterpillar pulled backwards with all his might, pulling the boy backwards and out of harm's way. _

One foot

"Not this time" growled Davis before he moved at god-like speeds and scooped Kari in his hands and dove away from the Monochromon, Kari still in his arms, but out of danger. Right after he did that, he felt a searing pain in his neck. He, with great difficulty, ignored the pain. The digi-egg of courage suddenly glowed red and warmed up in his pocket. Davis – after setting Kari safely down on the ground – took out the glowing digi-egg and examined it, and so did the Monochromon. They stopped charging and looked in wonder at the glowing egg.

"Davish! Open the digi-egg, then I can digivolve!" yelled Veemon, to which Davis replied, "HOW?!"

"I don't kn-" Veemon started before his eyes suddenly glazed and became distant. Then in a voice filled with wisdom beyond his years, Veemon replied "Digi-Armor Energize. Hold up the digi-mental and say 'Digi-Armor Energize,' Daisuke."

Davis looked skeptical but when the Monochromon finally gained their composure and roared he just thought. _'Eh, what the heck. I've got nothing to lose.' _Davis raised up the egg and yelled "DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!" The digi-egg glowed pure orange and at the same time so did Veemon.

"**Veemon Armor-Digivolve to…. Flamedramon! The Fire of Courage!"**

The new form of Veemon seemed to be a grown-up version of Veemon with the addition of armor on its face, chest, thighs, hands, and feet, with a spike protruding from its face, and claws for its hands. The armor was covered with flame-like designs.

"A-Armor Digivolve?" asked Tai

"Yes, I am Flamedramon. I digivolved from Veemon with the digi-egg of courage. If you think my Flame Fist attack is hot, then wait till you see my Fire Rocket attack!" said the new dragon-man Digimon defined as Flamedramon. Unlike Veemon's childish voice and personality, Flamedramon had a much more mature voice and had a serious personality. That was all Flamedramon said before charging at the lead Monochromon.

**~Que "Run Around" By Jasan Radford~**

"_**Flame Fist!" **_yelled Flamedramon as his right fist engulfed in fire. He slammed his claw straight for the Monochromon's dark ring. Despite he aimed the dark ring, the Monochromon was still slammed several feet, leaving a trail of dirt and howled in pain. This seemed to snap out the rest of the herd as they all charged at the dragon-man, the other humans and Digimon all forgotten. Before they could reach him, however, Flamedramon used knelt on one knee then suddenly leaped high into the sky.

"_**Fire Rocket!" **_yelled Flamedramon as his body was surrounded by an aura of fire. Then without warning, he shot straight at the closest Monochromon and instantly destroyed its dark ring before leaping back into the air - still on fire - preparing for another attack.

Davis watched in awe as his partner made quick work of another Monochromon's dark ring, he missed this. The excitement of watching his partner battle had been lost to him around the time they had achieved Veemon's ultimate form and the fate of all realities harshly dumped on his shoulders.

Three more dark rings bought the dust as Flamedramon once again took to the sky. Davis finally managed to snap out of his trance and actually analyze Veemon's new form, which he should have done from the start.

Unfortunately, he noticed that Flamedramon was around the strength of a mid to high champion, nothing compared to what he had once been at his peak. He also noticed that in raw strength, Veemon's champion form was definitely stronger, though it didn't have the agility and mobility that Flamedramon possessed. He was also smaller than Veedramon, making it easier and viable to fight in smaller areas which had always been a drawback for Veemon's champion and ultimate forms. All in all, he was going look forward to working with this new digivolution of Veemon's.

Within a matter of seconds, all ten Monochromon were unconscious and dark-ring free. After finishing the job, Flamedramon landed near the still stunned group of and glowed yellow before he reverted back into Veemon. The digi-egg appearing in front of him before it turned into a beam of light that went into Davis' pocket and turned into a new digital device, a D-Terminal

**~Music End~**

"So, whaddya think? Pretty cool huh?" Veemon's childish voice finally broke the group out of their trance.

Davis had to smile when he saw his partner scratch the back of his head sheepishly. It was like nothing had ever happened, like Veemon never left, left _him._ Next, to him, Kari had a near identical expression. That gesture that Veemon currently showed had heavily reminded her of Davis when he was embarrassed or wanted to apologize, she didn't know who picked it up from who, but the similarities were frightening.

"It was awesome, Veemon," the blue dragon's human partner replied. Said dragon returned a grateful smile. That was all the warning Veemon got before he got ambushed by the other Digimon asking a million questions at once. Words such as "where," "digivolution," "how," and others were heard over the jumble of voices of the Digimon.

"Oh yeah, here you go Davis," said Kari as she pulled off Davis' goggles over her head and handed them to Davis and giving him a warm smile.

"Thanks, Kari" replied the maroon haired boy.

_**-TIbD- **_

The Digimon emperor growled as he saw the end of the battle. He shouldn't have expected anything less from his former mentor and friend. Of course, the goggle head would be able to bypass his spirals and use a new form of digivolution, because why wouldn't he?

Thankfully, he already had planned his next move. He just needed to wait till tomorrow and add some finishing touches to the trap and wait for those brats to walk right into it.

'_After all master, you always told me to __always__ plan ahead, didn't you?' _the boy with horrible fashion sense thought smugly, as a familiar looking green caterpillar watched the scene before him with his expression full of concern.

_**-TIbD- **_

After bandaging Kari's sprained ankle, the group set off to walk back towards the TV to go back to the real world. Davis and Veemon were trailing behind them to make sure nothing came up and attacked them, after all, Veemon was the only one that could digivolve and could protect them should danger arise. The armor digivolution seemed to take the energy of a champion digivolution, if not less, according to what Davis had seen from the battle and the aftermath. So, doing it again shouldn't be a problem.

Tai and TK were currently up farther ahead, apparently talking about having a meeting between the DigiDestined. The Digimon, minus Veemon, were conversing about the emperor, dark rings, and the new armor digivolution, with Patamon making a horrible pun about "a new hope."

Kari, on the other hand, was lost in her own thoughts, which seemed to revolve around her goggle-headed friend a lot lately. Davis had acted differently from anything she'd ever seen from him. First the hesitation for going to the Digital World in the beginning, though none of the others noticed it, Kari surely did. Davis did not want to be here, it was as if it pained him to even come here, but as usual, he did, he would do practically anything to help someone in need. She had never seen that kind of hesitation in him, ever, not when she forced him to play with dolls or when she convinced him to steal Tai's old soccer ball. She smiled at the fact that at least that he still pulled through in the end. Then he did a complete one-eighty when Veemon turned up. After Veemon appeared, the little guy practically burned all hesitation from her friend and instead filled him with confidence. He seemed like a whole new person, someone she didn't know, and she did not like it.

Kari snapped out of her thoughts when they reached for the portal. The group looked back to the Digimon and addressed. Tai said, "We'll be back tomorrow, so don't get caught by any dark rings till then okay?"

To which Gatomon piped up "Don't worry, the Emperor never comes during the night. We'll be safe."

"Don't be so sure, just because the Emperor isn't here doesn't mean the rings and the Digimon are just going to lie down. No use in taking chances." Davis countered before pulling out his digivice and D-Terminal and proceeding to armor digivolve Veemon into Flamedramon.

"Flamedramon will make sure no controlled Digimon or rings come and attack you guys while we're gone," Davis said and Flamedramon nodded and lead the other Digimon away to find a safe place to stay for the night.

"What? Flamedramon is going to stay digivolved all night and day until we come back?" TK asked. Davis, who apparently missed the sarcasm in TK's voice or simply ignored it, just nodded affirmatively.

Tai, sensing that a fight might break up if he didn't do something quickly motioned to the interdimensional portal which took the form of a 90's television and said. "Come on, it's getting late. Let's go." Tai took out his digivice, and TK followed. Kari was about to also pulled out her digivice when she felt something stop her, she looked back to see Davis, with a scary glint in his eyes. He shook his head and gave her a smile. Mischief was written all over his face.

Kari hesitantly put her digivice away and gave Davis a questioning look, though she looked a bit frustrated, in actuality, she was very happy. If Davis still could cause mischief, that was a sign that even though Davis had been hiding a side of him that she had never seen, he was still Davis, her best friend.

Kari turned around just in time to see TK and Tai disappear in a flash of light. She asked Davis, "Um, Davis, why aren't we going with them?" but she was ignored. Instead, Davis was counting down, "Five… four… three… two… one…" he said.

"Okay, let's go," he said before taking his hand in hers and pointing at the digital portal and yelling "Digi-Port Open!"

_**-TIbD- **_

In the real world in the computer lab, Izzy, Cody, and Yolei were sitting in front of a certain computer while eating brownies and talking. "And that's basically the Digital World and what it means to be a DigiDestined," Izzy said, finished off his explanation. By the end, Yolei's eyes were sparkling with excitement of traveling to another world while Cody's seemed to be filled with doubt.

Before any more words could be exchanged however, the computer they were sitting in front of suddenly flared into life. In a flash of blue light, TK and Tai came through the portal, screaming bloody murder, and landed right on top of Yolei, Cody, and Izzy.

Five seconds later, the computer flashed again, and this time Davis and Kari came in, on their feet, away from the dogpile, and NOT in a tangled mess of limbs. Davis smirked when he saw the tangled mess of limbs that was Tai, TK, Izzy, Yolei, and Cody.

Regaining his composure, however, Davis checked the time and saw that nearly two hours had passed since they went to the Digital World. _'So, I was right, time in the Digital World had synchronized with the real world.'_

"DAVIS!" yelled Tai, who was the first to free himself out of his prison. "You knew, didn't you?!"

"Knew what, exactly?" replied the younger goggle-headed boy cheekily.

"You knew that when we came through the portal, we would end up in a dog pile didn't you?! You didn't say anything!" yelled the brunette

"I cannot even begin to comprehend why you would even think of such a notorious thing, Tai. Are you accusing me of _willingly _letting you get trapped in a dogpile of bodies? How could you?" replied Davis in a perfectly done innocent voice. He must've taken lessons from DemiVeemon.

"YES!" shrieked the former leader of the DigiDestined.

Kari was just watching this entire exchange in complete amusement, trying not to fall on the floor laughing. She was suddenly glad Davis stopped her from coming through the portal immediately. This was just like when they were kids, the three of them were going to do something stupid due to Tai's horrible leading, Davis would stop her from doing it and they would both watch Tai make a fool of himself.

"You're going to pay for this Motomiya," growled the eldest Kamiya sibling.

"Uh, no he's not. In the past eight years, you two have known each other, Tai, you've NEVER been able to one-up Davis. This time is no different," said the younger Kamiya sibling, joining in the conversation.

"KARI! I'm supposed to be your older brother!" yelled Tai in disbelief and betrayal. Kari just smirked, knowing she succeeded in taking Davis' side and annoying her older brother.

The rest of the group also watched this development in amusement as well, well except _one._ TK watched this exchange feeling something he never felt before, envy. He hated how close Kari and Davis was and how easily Kari trusted Davis to take care of the Monochromon, how she asked Davis to help her when she was about to get trampled instead of him or at least Tai. It lit something inside of him, _rage._

_**-TIbD-**_

**A/N: **Oh god I'm FINALLY done with this first chapter. Only took like a week *pants* Anyways, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter, leave your thoughts, follow, favorite, do whatever you want!

Make sure to check out FreddyOakster on here, his stories are amazing! Make sure to leave a review and tell me what I could do better. I enjoy constructive criticism, so go wild! Just make sure it's something that can help and not flames.

Till next time!

**Edit (5/30/19) – Fixed some grammar mistakes and slightly changed Davis' Digital World clothes – **_Davis was now wearing a jacket; the left of the said jacket had a red and orange flaming design and a blue background. The right side of the jacket, however, was completely different. It still had the flame design, but instead of red and orange flames, it was black and dark grey flames with a light grey background. The weird flame colors went around the jacket too, the red flames going all the way to the back of the jacket and stopping the middle where it met the black flames. _


	2. Love and Knowledge

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Digimon

**A/N: **Alright! The second chapter is out! :D Took a while but I hope you enjoy it! One thing I found out while writing this chapter was that Jun Motomiya (Davis' older sister) is actually 6 years older than him, not three, so she's technically older than Tai and the rest of the "older DigiDestined." I'm changing it so she's three years older than Davis, making her the same age as Tai and Matt, for convenience sake. Anyways that enough rambling, enjoy the chapter! Make sure to leave a review, thanks!

Oh, last thing I promise. Considering the fact, I never played Tag Tamers, Brave Tamers or any of the other "Ryo" games, those aren't canon in my story, I know the basic rundown of the plots in the games, but it wouldn't work for this story so I'm changing it. So, for example, Cyberdramon and Justimon are Monodramon's ultimate and mega forms respectively and not like its half of Millenniummon or a jogress between Monodramon and Millenniummon. What happened in the battle against Millenniummon and Ryo will be revealed as the story continues!

And now for real this time, on with the chapter!

_**-TIbD- **_

**Chapter 2: **Love and Knowledge

Davis opened the door to the Motomiya residence, hoping to sneak in without his sister, Jun, knowing. His parents were at work again, so he didn't have to worry about it. Unfortunately, lady luck apparently had a thing against the youngest Motomiya as the second he opened the door, he saw his sister right in front of him, her hands on her hips and with a stern expression.

"DAVIS! Where've you been? You should have been here two hours ago! I even called your school and asked if you were at practice and turns out you didn't even _have _soccer practice today! So where did you run off to now, mister?" shrieked Davis's older sister. Things had been patched up between the Motomiya siblings after Davis' return from the Digital World for the first time, though they still got on each other's nerves from time to time. Thankfully, it wasn't nearly as bad as it once was.

She was the first one Davis told about his time in the Digital World. She also saw him when he was first transported there, thankfully their parents didn't see it, so they kept it their little secret. Davis was thankful that he and Jun managed to patch things up because, after that, Jun had helped him with his nightmares, had comforted him when he would cry and all in all been an amazing older sister. Davis still remembered the day he was first transported into the Digital World.

_Crying could be heard. A small maroon haired boy had tears flooding down his cheeks. An older maroon haired girl could be seen trying to comfort the boy._

_A computer screech and a bright flash of light. A small device appears. The boy grabs it. _

_Another flash of light, the boy is gone. The girl is screaming, looking for her younger brother. _

It was one of the best and worst days of his life. He had first met Veemon, or DemiVeemon as he was then, made friends with Digimon, survived on his for the first time and learned loads of new things. But he also introduced to the horror that is the Digital World.

"So, there are more kids, like you?" she asked after Davis had finished explaining.

"Yeah, eight more, actually ten more now, as Izzy said both Cody Hida and Yolei Inoue became chosen." Davis unconsciously clenched his fists in anger. Jun looked over at her younger brother in worry. She knew how he felt about children going into the Digital World, and if any of his current signs were any indication, he loathed that more kids are forced to getting involved.

Who could blame him though? Living over a year in the Digital World had forced him to grow up and mature faster than he should have. He faced unparalleled horrors in that accursed digital dimension. It was natural that he didn't want anyone else to experience what he had. Three children being robbed their childhoods is enough. Though at least it seemed Tai's they didn't face anything nearly as harsh as he did, judging by their reactions on the Digital World, so that should comfort him for now. She pitied a certain wise blue dragon and old man right now.

"Why don't you contact Ken? I mean he would want to know about this, right? A new danger plus he could see Wormmon again," Jun commented. She really hadn't believed Davis' stories about the Digital World at first, but when they were on vacation in Hawaii four years ago and the sky split open, she was more convinced.

She had half a mind to wake Davis up at the time, but he was sleeping, and she really didn't want to disturb him, okay the truth was she didn't want to worry him, the Digital World appearing in the sky was a bad sign. Thankfully after around five minutes, the sky went back to normal. However, Jun didn't see the final battle of the eight DigiDestined as she went back inside before the battle. She only saw some monsters and vague humanoid shapes.

"I guess I might as well, even if he cut our friendship after Sam passed, I'll e-mail him tomorrow.

"Well, at least this time you're not going to be trapped there. And look on the bright side, Veemon's back so that's good, right? Wait, you said time synchronized between the two worlds? Ugh... I'm going to have to cover for you, aren't I?" Jun asked, hoping to lift his spirits.

It worked, Davis gave her one of his trademark goofy smiles and replied a quick "Yep!"

"Alright, fine I will, just don't get yourself killed, kay squirt?" said the elder sibling.

Davis nodded before an idea struck him. "Hey Jun, where's the clay and paint?" asked Davis.

_**-TIbD-**_

Kari was currently laying on her bed, in her bedroom. Tai had received his own room a couple of years back, so she had their old room all to herself. Her thoughts, once again, were focused on a certain maroon haired boy. _'Daisuke…' _she thought glumly. The way he acted, it was so _different _compared to anything, _anything _she'd ever seen him do. And then there was Veemon, why was it that before seeing Veemon, Davis seemed so _afraid _of the Digital World? She also couldn't forget the fact after seeing Veemon, Davis cried, he _cried! _When was the last time she ever saw him actually cry? What's worse is that he did it in front of others, he _never _showed emotions to others, ever.

Then there was the fact that she hid the Digital World from him, her very _best _friend. They had always shared everything together, did everything together and stayed with each other. _'Through thick and thin' _Kari recalled those words that Davis had told her after he had protected her from some bullies a couple of days after they became friends. She felt horrible hiding her adventure in the Digital World, Sora and Tai – the only ones in the older group that actually knew Davis – had to all but force her to stop telling Davis.

Only to find out now that he already _knew _about the parallel world. She _really _hoped Davis was mad at her for not telling him. She treasured her friendship with the maroon haired boy, it was one of the things that helped her after Gatomon left. She always felt safe around him, like she did with Tai or Sora, but there was something else when she was around Davis, she just couldn't put her finger on it. She just hoped that she didn't ruin their friendship because she kept the Digital World from Davis.

"Worrying about Davis?" Kari turned around to find the source of the voice, her older brother Tai leaning against the wall. She times hated how easily he could read her sometimes, the only one could read her better was Davis. She nodded.

"Well, what about Davis?" Tai asked, trying to help her. Kari thought for a moment, what about Davis worried her so much? Was it that he shows a completely different side of himself, was she worried about him? Was she worried about him being mad at her? All those questions all rang "YES" to her, so she told her brother.

"Well, first off, I wouldn't worry about Davis in general, this _is _Davis we're talking about. He's tough, he'll be fine. And if you want my honest opinion, I doubt Davis is mad at you, come on when was the last time he was mad, _mad _at you? And no, I don't mean that time when you dragged him to that girls-only birthday party," Tai reassured. "It'll be fine. As for the other side of Davis, if you're worried that you don't know Davis as well as you thought you, what are you going to do about it? Are you going to sit around and brood over it or are you going try and reacquainted with him?"

Kari thought this over for a minute and then smiled. Tai was right she didn't need to worry about all that, she just needed to take a leaf out of Davis' book and stop brooding and start doing.

After reaching this conclusion, Kari turned to her brother. "Thanks, Tai, I really needed that." It was decided, she was going to talk to him tomorrow.

"No problem Kari, I'm going to call everyone and tell them to about the meeting tomorrow night, alright?" replied the older brunette as he walked off to make some phone calls to prepare for tomorrow afternoon.

_**-TIbD-**_

"Yo, Matt! I don't care if you have band practice! Look listen, we're going to have an all DigiDestined meeting tomorrow, can we use your place around? Yeah, we'll use your place, so be ready for some guests around six, make sure to tell TK, okay thanks bye!"

"Hey Joe, yeah it's Tai. YES, IT'S IMPORTANT! We're going to have an all, _yes _all DigiDestined meeting tomorrow afternoon at Matt's place. Be there at around six."

"Hello Mrs. Izumi, is Izzy there? Yes, it's Tai, tell him it's important. Hey there, Izzy, there's going to be an all DigiDestined meeting at Matt's place tomorrow at six. Yeah, it's about Davis and the Digital World. Oh, and could you skype Mimi and let her know, she needs to be a part of this meeting."

'_Ok Kamiya, just one more to go, just Sora. Oh, crap how do I talk to her? It's been months! Wait, why am I so worried? She' just a friend…_ _just a friend… Well better get this over with.' _Tai thought as he took a deep breath and dialed for the last phone call.

"Hello, Mrs. Takenouchi, is Sora there?"

_"Ah Tai, is that you? Yes, Sora's here, give me a second_, SORA! Your friend Tai's on the phone!"

"_Tai?"_

"Hey Sora"

"_How are you doing?"_

"I'm good, I just wanted to let you know that we're having an all DigiDestined meeting tomorrow at six at Matt's place."

"_An ALL DigiDestined meeting, Tai?" _

"Yeah, something happened in the Digital World."

"_What brought this on, we haven't had an all DigiDestined meeting since Gennai called us back to the Digital World."_

"Long story short, a new danger has appeared, the gate opened today. According to Agumon, there's this "Digimon Emperor" who goes around enslaving Digimon with his dark rings and somehow blocks digivolution with his a 'dark digivice'

"_Really, it's that bad? What can we do if our partners can't digivolve?!" _

"Well we have a temporary solution to it, Davis can somehow digiv-"

_"Wait, DAVIS? Kari told him about the Digital World?_

"No, no, apparently Davis is a DigiDestined like us, his partner is a Digimon I've never seen before called Veemon and he can somehow digivolve him using the Digi-Egg of courage"

"_Okay stop right there, Davis a DigiDestined, a new Digimon, Digi-Egg of Courage? Let me tell my mom that I'll be on the phone for a bit and she might have to cover for me, and you can explain _all _of this to me." _

And so Tai did, he told her about the armor digivolution, the new digivices, the dark rings, everything.

_**-TIbD-**_

Kari hesitantly waited outside of the apartment that the Motomiya's lived in, she decided that she was going to talk to Davis today. That, however, didn't mean she was mentally prepared for this conversation. She had half a mind to go to school without Davis and delay the talk as much as she could, but the rational part told her that it was best to just get it over. So, she was currently waiting for her maroon haired friend.

Finally, the doored opened and Davis came out of the apartment, he noticed Kari was waiting for him and was actually surprised to see her. He was expecting, no, _hoping _she wouldn't come with him to school today. He just knew she was going to be mad at him for not telling her that he was a chosen. He hesitantly greeted her as they started walking, mentally preparing for the scolding he was about to receive.

Instead, he got a "Davis! I-I'm sorry for not telling you I w-was a DigiDestined, please don't be mad," Kari whimpered. Davis actually had to do a double-take at that, _she _was apologizing for not telling _him _about the Digital World? B-But it's him that who should be apologizing, not Kari.

"Why are you apologizing, Kari? I should be the one asking for forgiveness for not telling you about the Digital World, after all, I kept it a secret for nearly our entire friendship," Kari stood, well actually _walked, _because they were walking, dumbfounded, why would she be mad? He should have known she wasn't going to be angry. Then again, she should have known that Davis wasn't going be cross with her, heck even _Tai _knew it. Kari let out a tiny giggle, which caused the maroon to give her a questioning look.

She managed to calm herself so she could explain, "Sorry, it's just that we were both afraid that the other was going to be mad because we kept a secret, only to find out that neither of us were mad, we really should have known better."

Davis smiled at that. "Yeah, we were being idiots" Suddenly Kari, out of nowhere, hugged Davis tightly. Davis was shocked at the sudden gesture of affection but quickly returned the hug.

"T-Thanks for being my friend, Daisuke," said Kari

Still shocked, Davis said "N-No problem, Hikari"

_**-TIbD-**_

The Emperor sat down in his chair and immediately set to work. He was already behind schedule, getting out of school took longer than it should have, damn those pestering school nurses! He already told them he just needed some rest but no, of course they had to do a full exam on their _boy genius. _

The first thing he noticed on his holographic computer screen is that he lost a lot of his monitoring black rings. Thankfully one of them managed to take a screenshot before being destroyed. He opened the file and saw Flamedramon, fist on fire, looking ready to destroy something, most likely the dark ring. _'Hmm… Davis left Flamedramon to guard those other Digimon, so they're most likely going to come through the same portal.' _He checked the Digimon near the portal those brats came through and saw almost all of them were insects, all weak to fire attributes like Flamedramon.

The Emperor almost wished Veemon could digivolve normally, at least he knew Veedramon inside and out, but not this new form. _'However, neither does Davis. Still, I shall be cautious, knowing Davis he's already found several of Flamedramon's weaknesses and how to avoid them.' _The Emperor reminded himself that it wasn't just Flamedramon that he needed to worry about, Veemon in itself was a threat, point proved when it took out a dark ring powered Monochromon.

One Digimon nearby the portal got his attention, Drimogemon. He quickly scanned the area to see if there were any cliffs and/or mountains in his territory, and sure enough, there was.

'_But how shall I use this to my advantage?' _the blue-haired boy thought before he felt a slight sting in his neck.

'_Oh, I know! This is going to be fun, for me that is! You've finally met your match, __master__' _thought the Emperor. His sadistic plan clouding his thoughts and rational thinking, for better, or for worse.

_**-TIbD- **_

Kari was sitting in a chair in the computer lab and idly watched Izzy and Davis work their magic on the computer, with Yolei pestering Izzy about each and every keystroke. Cody just sat there quiet, it was hard to tell he was even there. TK, oddly, was also quiet but had the barest hints of a frown on his face as he watched Davis.

After what seemed an eternity of uncomfortable silence, Davis suddenly pulled back his chair and signed. "Okay, we got the portal working, we'll be appearing the same place as yesterday. Everyone, get your digivices ready." They all were about when the door to the computer lab suddenly opened, revealing a girl with orange hair and she was wearing the same school uniform as Izzy. Davis instantly recognized her, Sora Takenouchi.

"Sora, what are you doing here?" asked Izzy surprised to see a fellow member of the older DigiDestined.

"Tai told me that the portal to the Digital World was open again, so I thought I would drop by and see Biyomon again" she replied with a smile.

"Wait, you too?!" asked Davis astonished that another one of his friends was a chosen child.

"Yep, crazy, I know. By the way mister, you never told us you were a DigiDestined!" replied the organette in mock scolding.

"Well, neither did you," rebuked Davis slightly agitated that another one of his close friends got roped into to the Digital World. Sora just smiled and laid off.

"Well fair enough, did you guys get the portal open?" Sora asked taking out her digivice, as expected it was the same model as Izzy's and the rest of the older kids. Davis nodded and motioned towards the computer with a strange pop up on the screen.

Thirty seconds later everyone was in front of the monitor, digivice in hand. Izzy turned back to make sure everyone was ready, as he was leading the group, after making sure they were all ready he turned to face the screen. Though a wink from Davis and a small smirk from Kari went unnoticed by him.

Izzy raised his digivice to the screen, signaling the others to follow suit, and everyone, minus two, yelled "Digi-Port OPEN!" and in a bright flash of blue light, five kids were transported to the Digital World. Five seconds later, the phrase "Digi-Port Open!" was heard again in the computer lab accompanied by another flash of blue light.

_**-TIbD- **_

In a forest in the Digital World, a blue flash of light could be seen as five figures emerged, right on top of each other, in a dogpile… Five seconds later the TV flashed again and two figures emerged, on their feet.

Izzy groaned and mentally cursed himself for falling for the same trick, _twice! _After finally managing to get himself free Izzy asked "Seriously Davis, again? Why?"

"What did I do? It's not my fall you guys decided to go in all at the same time and fall for the same trick twice," countered Davis. Izzy, seeing there was no point in arguing with the maroon haired boy, just let it go.

"Hey look at this, my clothes changed," Yolei commented, looking at her new wardrobe. She was wearing red pants, a yellow suit like thing with blue sleeves and an orange pilot-like helmet.

"Mine too," Cody commented as he was now wearing a simple long-sleeved off-white shirt and brownish pants.

"Man, these are comfortable, wait till I tell my sisters I got free clothes," Yolei said. Davis, who ignored both of them before, cut the conversation short.

"Alright, let's wait here for Flamedramon and the others, it's not safe to go around here without a partner, so don't go running off," said Davis, slipping back into his old leader mode. There was the tiniest flicker in one of the leaves in a nearby bush, which went unnoticed by everyone but Davis.

"Chill out Davis, you make it sound as if a single leaf can turn into a fire breathing monster, they're just trying to have fun," said TK. How naïve, the Digital World being _fun? _Nonsense, this wasn't a place for children, it was a matter of life or death. His opinion on these kids' skills just kept getting lower. TK was ignored by Davis as he crouched down to the grass as if examining it.

"What a beautiful patch of grass," said Davis calmly before suddenly picking up a rock that was near the grass and pelting it straight where he saw the leaf move moments earlier. Everyone stood in shock at Davis' sudden aggression, but it didn't last long as they could hear a _throb _and moments after a small figure jumped up from the bush. It was a small Digimon, wearing a red mask, it had spiky shoulder pads and a sheathed sword attached to his back. It was a Ninjamon, equipped with a dark ring.

Ninjamon, at amazing speeds, unsheathed its sword and sped straight towards Davis' head, looking to cut it clean off. Fortunately, Davis managed to move his head left, so the Ninjamon dove straight into a tree instead, and it couldn't stop itself due to the speed it was going, so its sword got stuck in a trunk of a tree.

Everyone gasped in shock at the apparent murder attempt of the Digimon, but Davis was already on the move. He was searching for something among the trees, as if looking for a specific one. After a couple of valuable seconds, his eyes fell on a special tree. Unlike the others in the forest, it had a dull purple trunk and branches and neon green leaves. Davis ran towards the tree and snapped off a branch, it was about a foot and a half long, just in time too as Ninjamon finally got its sword unstuck and was already aiming to stab Davis in the back.

"Davis look out!" yelled Kari as Ninjamon leapt towards Davis' back. Davis at unimaginable speeds turned around, stick in hand and used it to block Ninjamon's attack. There was no way Davis should have been able to block that, as Ninjamon was a mere foot away from stabbing Davis but somehow Davis produced a miracle and avoided death, yet again, though he still felt a throbbing pain in his neck for some reason. Everyone expected the stick-sword to instantly be sliced by Ninjamon's sword, but it didn't. After seeing his attack failed, Ninjamon jumped back and took his stance, leaning on one leg and sword ready, in both hands.

Davis took the time to also change into a fighting stance. He was also leaning on one leg but had his stick in his right hand while the other was free, he learned it from the Elder Kogamon to specifically use against Ninjamon. Ninjamon were usually the aggressive ones, while their rivals Kogamon, were more strategic, that's why Ninjamon hold swords with both hands, to apply more pressure and damage while Kogamon have a free hand, for creativity.

Its something you would probably see in an old 90's samurai movie, two 'ninjas' getting ready to battle. Everything was completely silent. Then in the middle of the two warriors, a lone leaf fell down from the tree, which signaled the start of the battle.

Ninjamon charged straight ahead for Davis ready to strike, however, this time Davis was prepared and blocked the attack, _with his free hand, _catching the sword and managed to land a blow on Ninjamon's dark ring, damaging it and forcing him to retreat. This time Davis charged for the Digimon, Ninjamon blocked it and taking a step back and ran towards Davis. Davis instantly jumped down and sweep kicked Ninjamon, knocking him off balance before striking the dark ring on its head with all his might, destroying the ring, ending the fight and knocking Ninjamon unconscious due to the electrical shock of having the dark ring destroyed.

Everyone stood in shock at what they witnessed. Cody and Yolei at seeing a real-life ninja battle, however, that was nothing compared to the shock that Izzy, Sora, TK, and even Kari received. They just saw Davis, _singlehandedly _take out a champion level Digimon, _by himself. _He didn't even have a Digimon with him either! Before anybody could comment on what they had seen, another rustle in the bushes was heard and out came Flamedramon, Gatomon, Patamon, a pink bird, and a red flying insect.

Yolei shrieked and hid behind TK at the sight of more monsters and Cody tensed. Though everyone else had different reactions, with Izzy and Sora going to greet their partners, TK, Davis, and Kari waiting for their partners to come to them. _'Wait, Flamedramon didn't de-digivolve?! He managed to hold his form this entire time! It's been like twenty-two hours since we were last here, he kept it that long?' _thought TK, astonished.

"Hey there Davis!" said the dragon-man Digimon as he glowed yellow before shrinking into a small blue dragon with red eyes.

"Good to see you, Vee, nobody got caught by any dark rings, right?" asked the dragon's partner

"Nope! We all stayed in a cave for the night, some of Gatomon's friends came to rest by the way," Veemon said, motioning towards Tentomon and Biyomon. "Though a couple of rings tried to get us, Flamedramon fried em' good."

Davis smiled and nodded before turning back to the rest of the group, and once again slipping into his leader mode said, "Alright let's move, I doubt that Ninjamon was the Emperor's only servant around here. If he attacks us here, fighting with Flamedramon could be dangerous because of the trees. Let's head towards the plains area, we have room to fight if need be."

Before anyone could retort, Davis and Veemon walked towards the plains, with Kari and Gatomon following behind and soon everyone else as well.

_**-TIbD- **_

The group finally managed to get to plains, it was oddly peaceful, all that could be seen was grass and some mountains in the distance. Oh, and there was that giant huge black tower thing… Davis felt an enormous amount of dark energy emitting from the tower, it also triggered something in his neck, causing him suddenly to put his hand where it was throbbing. Thankfully (or not, depending on how you look at it) no one noticed. He knew that the tower was doing something, but he just couldn't put his finger on it with the pain clouding his mind.

"Alright, everybody be on the lookout for any danger, we're here to just introduce Cody and Yolei to the Digital World, and _maybe _free some Digimon if we come across them, nothing more," said Davis. Izzy had already informed Yolei and Cody about the dark rings, so they had a basic idea of what was going on here.

"Davis, you need to chill out. You make it sound as if the ground is suddenly going to open up and eat us!" rebuked Yolei. And it did just that. The first sign of danger was the sound of insect's wings buzzing. The second was the ground under Davis suddenly opening up and eating him, thankfully he managed to grab a rock to prevent himself from falling to the bottom.

Everyone who didn't fall were currently being attacked by swarms of Snimon and Kuwagamon. Davis, hearing their screams pulled out his digivice and yelled "DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!" His D-Terminal already set on the Digi-Egg of Courage from last night just in case of a situation like this. Up above, Davis could hear Veemon yell,

"**Veemon Armor-Digivolve to…. Flamedramon! The Fire of Courage!"**

He noticed that the screams stopped and Flamedramon yell _**"Fire Rocket!" **_He could hear fire burning. He was still hanging on the rock, though he didn't feel tired in the slightest, after all this wasn't new to him. Then he heard the sounds of drills moving and saw a Drimogemon, equipped with a dark ring, slowly climbing up towards him. Davis knew that Flamedramon couldn't fight with him in the crater and he couldn't save him while he was all but stuck to the wall, it would take to long for his fiery friend to take him to safety, enough time to let Drimogemon get in a hit on Flamedramon. Knowing what he had to do, he let go of the rock he was holding and yelled at the top of his lungs "FLAMEDRAMON!"

Flamedramon suddenly leaped inside the crater just and saw Davis free-falling to his apparent doom, he rushed towards him and grabbed him and was about to escape when Drimogemon used its Bone Crusher attack, throwing a bone it stole from Garurumon at them. Flamedramon had just enough time to use his free claw to knock the bone away. Flamedramon growled, he couldn't fight like this and if he left with Davis, Drimogemon would escape and still be enslaved by the Emperor.

"_I can't just turn away while I'm in the middle of helping someone, Vee, if I did then what was the point of even helping them in the first place?"_

Flamedramon remembered what Davis had told him once, early in their adventure. It was when the stumbled upon an Agumon and Koromon village, it was being attacked by a group of BlackGreymon weekly. The only reason the village wasn't destroyed beforehand was because the residence of the village were giving them food, though even then sometimes the BlackGreymon would just destroy some houses for the fun of it.

The villagers asked for their help and they agreed. The first week only one BlackGreymon came and they narrowly managed to defeat it. Veemon back then, who still couldn't go to champion at will, suggested they leave before reinforcements came. That's when Davis told him those words.

So, they stayed and fought, they managed to take down around five BlackGreymon, but the leader was still there. All hope seemed to be lost as both were worn out from the earlier battles and the leader didn't even fight yet himself, so he wasn't tired. Even then Davis stayed and fought, Veemon was amazed by Davis' determination and courage. When they were on the ropes and were mere inches from death, a miracle saved them and Veemon once again digivolved to Veedramon, deleting the BlackGreymon and saving the village.

Ever since then Veemon promised himself that if he started helping someone, he wouldn't turn tail and run away in the middle. If Flamedramon left Drimogemon without destroying the dark ring, he would be doing the same thing once more. So, he did the only thing that he could think of, he threw Davis in the air to get him out of harm's way and instantly ignited his fist on fire and aimed for the dark ring. Drimogemon, against his will, used his dark-ring free hand to protect the one with the dark ring. The Emperor programmed the Digimon to protect the rings.  
Davis was thrown several ten feet up in the air, by the time he stopped going up, he was about thirty to forty feet up in the sky. And he came plummeting down. Kari and Yolei screamed when they saw Davis, once again, looking like he was going to die.

As he was around ten feet from the ground, two things happened, Flamedramon shot out of the crater, - he easily managed to beat Drimogemon and destroy the dark ring, without hurting him too much, but it took precious seconds – at the same time, ground beneath TK cracked open and he, along with Patamon were grabbed by giant white paw that had drills for its claws.

Another controlled Drimogemon! Flamedramon was already on the leaping path to save his partner, so he couldn't save TK. So, in a matter of minutes the DigiDestined were attacked by giant mutant insects, Davis got swallowed by the ground and nearly fell to his death, then apparently learned to fly, Flamedramon destroyed a few dozen dark rings, and now the ground had eaten Patamon and TK.

_**-TIbD-**_

TK's eyes stirred as he struggled to open them. He groaned took in his new surroundings, he was stuck on the side of a cliff, and when he tried to move his arms, he saw they were pinned on said cliff courtesy of some metal bracelets.

He looked up when he heard a voice say "Well, well, well, look who's finally awake."

_**-TIbD- **_

The group was currently traveling through a thin forest. Davis said this was the fastest way to get to TK after he pressed many random buttons on his digivice and somehow managed to get the locator function working. Seriously, does this guy's luck _ever _end? Things were going well until both Yolei and Cody's digivices started suddenly beeping.

"Hey, look at this, it shows a map, and up head… that way," Cody said pointing west from where they were heading "it shows a symbol. It looks like a purple infinity sign" he finished.

"Huh, odd. Mine shows a red heart symbol that way," Yolei said pointing the same way as Cody.

"Red heart…" Sora muttered at the same as Izzy who muttered "Purple infinity…" and at the same time yelled "The Crest of Love/Knowledge!" Cody and Yolei just looked at them perplexedly, trying to remember where they heard about that before, though they couldn't question what they meant as Kari asked "Wait, why are their digivices showing the crests, and why do they have different ones?"

Davis thought for a moment, why would the digivices show the Crests? There wasn't anything special when he checked the map last night with the help of his new digivice, well expect that temple. Wait! _Temple! _That's what they were reacting to, and the Crests must be the new Digi-Eggs for Cody and Yolei!

"Your digivices must be reacting towards the temple and I think that the Digi-Eggs of Love and Knowledge are hiding there," Davis said.

Izzy nodded at that "Yes, that makes sense, and I'm guessing that under those eggs are Yolei and Cody's new partners?" Izzy asked and Davis nodded affirmatively.

If the eggs were really there, then the Digimon were probably under them, they most likely could armor digivolve with said eggs. Now to choose, should he go with them, should they ignore the eggs, or should they split up?

If he went with them, they would be safe with Flamedramon, but TK could get hurt if the Emperor got bored of waiting for them. Ignoring the eggs was not an option, they could really use the extra help and they were partners of the DigiDestined, they already waited many millennia, no need to add extra waiting. If they split up, Davis could easily go to where the Emperor was keeping TK, but the others would be put at risk, but that seemed to be the best option. He had no choice, splitting up was the best option for now, they could rejoin him after they got the new Digimon. Besides, he didn't see any controlled Digimon last night while browsing through the map in this area anyway.

"Okay listen up, Flamedramon and I are going to go after TK while you guys get the Digi-Eggs to get Cody and Yolei's partners, then you guys will come after us and we'll free TK from there," Davis said, he intently looked at the expressions of the group after he told them his plan. Yolei seemed scared, Sora seemed accepting, Cody and Izzy seemed thoughtful, and Kari looked like she wanted to argue, but thankfully didn't, she probably saw that this was the best course of action.

"Hey Cody, hand me your digivice," Davis said as Cody gave him his digivice. After pressing a couple of buttons, Cody's digivice now had the same screen as Davis'.

"Okay, use Yolei's digivice to get the eggs and then use Cody's to locate us, alright?" asked Davis, giving Cody his digivice back. He received a collective nod from the group. Davis and Flamedramon headed off to their original path, but not before giving Izzy a critical glance, a glance between leaders. Izzy knew what that meant, Davis was trusting him to keep the group safe in his absence. And he wouldn't fail.

_**-TIbD- **_

TK looked up to see a boy around his age with dark blue hair, a purple _suit? _Yeah, we're just going to call it a suit, purple sunglasses with golden rims, silver gauntlets and a purple cape. Who was this guy and what was wrong with his clothing?

TK mentally slapped himself as his brain finally caught up to his line of thought, this was the _Digimon Emperor! _Of course, it was, he remembered now, he was captured by Drimogemon. He looked around the cliffside, he didn't see Davis, seemed like the maroon haired boy didn't get captured.

"Digimon Emperor I presume?" asked TK looking at the Kaiser straight in the eye, well sunglasses but close enough.

"Speaking!" answered the blue-haired boy.

"Why are you doing all this?! Enslaving Digimon to do your bidding, you're just a kid, like me! And what do you want from me?!" yelled TK

"Just like you?' I'm NOTHING like you, brat! If I were, then I'd be the one stuck on a cliffside. As for what I want from you, why would I want anything from someone as weak as you? You're just bait for me to catch the bigger fish, nothing more, nothing less," replied the Emperor.

That definitely hit a nerve in TK, being told that he was nothing but _bait _to trap others triggered something. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN? WHAT _BIGGER FISH _ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!" roared TK. After being practically useless in the many months of his first adventure, being told he hadn't changed in the past four years hit a nerve, hard.

"Daisuke Motomiya, who else? He's the only threat to me and the strongest out of your little group," replied the Emperor nonchalantly.

"Davis? I'm way better than him!" yelled TK, getting angrier every second.

"Oh really? Then how come you're the one hanging from the cliff and not Davis? After all, both of you fell into the same trap and Davis managed to escape, you didn't," countered the Emperor.

"He had Flamedramon, his partner could digivolve," said TK, desperately trying to explain himself.

"Really, that's all? Because, last time I checked, Davis and Veemon managed to take down a Monochromon, a champion, without digivolving," sneered the Emperor. "And let's not forget that the Digital World chose _Davis _to get the new digivice, not you and that it was _Davis _who picked up the Digi-Egg, again not a weakling like you."

TK was too shocked to say anything. The Emperor was right, he wasn't the one who took out a champion with only a rookie, he wasn't the one who's digivice changed, he didn't pick up the Digi-Egg. He couldn't even save Kari yesterday. Taking feats alone, Davis was in another league compared to him.

While TK was lost in his thoughts, he didn't even see his unconscious partner chained up to the cliff as well. He also didn't notice the satisfied smirk that the Emperor wore above him.

_**-TIbD- **_

Davis and Flamedramon were running through the forest, following the signal on Davis' digivice. Neither were talking, both lost in either their thoughts or in Flamedramon's case, concentration.

Davis was worried about the rest of the group, specifically Kari. He took their only protection away from them, he hoped they would be safe.

Flamedramon, as if sensing his partner's distress crossly said "Hey Davis, snap out of it! We still have our part to do, so pay attention to the task at hand!"

Davis shook off his thoughts and gave his partner a grateful smile. He was right, there was no use worrying about it now, all he could do was have faith and focus on his part on the rescue mission.

_**-TIbD- **_

Izzy's group was also running in a forest, though in a different direction than Davis was going. They were following the signal on Yolei's digivice to find the temple that housed the two new Digi-Eggs.

After some running, and some more running, and even _more _non-stop running, they reached the temple, which apparently had a million stairs. Yolei instantly groaned at the sight of so many stairs and said "Ugh… Do we really need to climb_ all_ those stairs?"

Kari was increasingly getting more annoyed with this girl. Davis was risking his life by going to try and save TK by himself and TK was already at the mercy of the Emperor and all she could think about was climbing some measly _stairs!?_ "Yes! The longer we take, the more danger Davis and TK are in, so move it!" Kari replied before she started jogging up the stairs.

Izzy and Sora were slightly surprised at the response the usually happy and calm Kari gave, she actually seemed _annoyed._ But realizing this was not the time to dwell on thoughts, they ran up the stairs after her, soon followed by Cody and eventually Yolei.

When they finally made it up to the top of the temple, they found two pillars with strange-looking eggs on them. One of them was yellow and had the crest of Knowledge on it, the other was white and had the crest of love on it. Yolei confirmed that it was the eggs that the digivices were reacting to.

Sharing a glance, both Sora and Izzy tried to pick up the eggs respective to their crests but neither managed to budge the eggs. Knowing what had happened yesterday and how Davis managed to pick up the Digi-Egg of Courage, they nodded at each other before they turned to the new DigiDestined.

"Cody, I think you try and pick up the egg," Izzy said motioning to the Digi-Egg of Knowledge.

"You too, Yolei," Sora said, gesturing towards the white Digi-Egg. Both of them nodded, already expecting this since Davis gave his explanation. They got in position and picked up the eggs with ease.

A red pillar of light erupted from where the Digi-Egg of Love was, and a silhouette of a bird could be seen. On the other side, a pillar of purple light erupted from where the Digi-Egg of Knowledge was, and a silhouette of an armadillo was visible.

Suddenly the silhouettes jumped out and out came a red hawk and yellow armadillo.

"Ah, it's nice to finally get out of that stuffy egg. Greetings my name is Hawkmon and I am your partner," introduced the red bird.

"Ahh *Yawn* Howdy! I'm Armadillomon and I'm your partner, nice to meet ya," said the yellow armadillo.

"P-Partner?" asked Yolei, still looking at the red bird in awe and a little fear.

"Yes, I'm your Digimon partner and we shall be fighting together as a team," replied the red bird Digimon.

"Yup, and I'm your partner Cody, together gonna be the very best no one ever was!" said Armadillomon.

"What fight? I don't figh-" Yolei started, but was cut off by Kari who impatiently said "Yeah that's nice and all, but could you two hurry up and armor digivolve? We have to save Davis and TK!"

Yolei, remembering that TK was still in danger, remembered how Flamedramon fought to protect them. She couldn't turn her back on her friends now, she was a DigiDestined and one of the only ones whose partners could digivolve, she had to fight one way or another. She also recalled that Mimi person from Izzy's stories from the Digital World that she and Cody heard yesterday and how amazed she was that even though Mimi didn't want to fight, she still did to protect her friends. She made up her mind, she was going to fight to protect her friends.

All hesitation gone from her eyes, Yolei nodded towards Kari as the Digi-Egg of Love glowed red in her hands.

Cody at the same time looked at Armadillomon in curiosity and wonder. He knew that since he had a digivice and partner, he was now an official DigiDestined, based off of what he had heard from Izzy's short retelling of the original group's adventure. He wondered what it would be like to have a bond like Izzy had with his Digimon, how it would feel like having someone you could always count on. But his thoughts stopped when he heard Kari's voice, she was right, Davis and TK were still in danger and they needed to save them. Besides he could figure things out along the way.

Cody, with determination in his eyes, also looked back at Kari and nodded as the Digi-Egg of Knowledge glowed purple.

Kari, seeing that the new DigiDestined were ready, told them, "Hold up your Digi-Eggs and say 'Digi-Armor Energize', that's what Davis did yesterday."

Sharing one last glance, Cody and Yolei held up their Digi-Eggs and at the same time yelled, "Digi-Armor ENERGIZE!" as Hawkmon and Armadillomon glowed red and purple respectively.

"**Hawkmon Armor-Digivolve to…. Halsemon! The Wings of Love!" **

Standing before them where the once red hawk was, was now a four-legged 'bird?'It had a silver helmet that spread stretched out as served as wings and the Crest of Love was above the armor Digimon's temples.

Everyone stood in awe at the digivolution as the new Digimon spoke in a majestic voice "I am Halsemon, an Armor Digimon. As Hawkmon I used to Digi-Egg of Love to digivolve. I use my Tempest Wing attack and Eagle Eye attack to blow away and paralyze my opponents."

"**Armadillomon Armor-Digivolve to…. Digmon! The Drill of Knowledge!" **

Standing where the yellow armadillo once was, was now a yellow insectoid with purple markings all over its body. It had small insect wings on its back and the Crest of Knowledge above the wings. It had drills for its nose and hands.

The second armor Digimon said "I, too, am an Armor Digimon. As Armadillomon, I used the Digi-Egg of knowledge to armor digivolve. Watch out for my Gold Rush and Rock Cracking attacks!"

"Alright, let's move!" said Kari motioning towards the exit so they could find Davis before he could do something stupid and so they could rescue TK.

_**-TIbD- **_

Davis and Flamedramon had finally reached TK's digivice's signal. With Flamedramon de-digivolving when they stopped. They were currently behind hiding behind couple boulders on the opposite side of the ravine that TK was stuck to. The Emperor was on the other side of the ravine also, though thankfully he didn't notice them yet.

Based on what Davis could conclude so far, the battle here was going to be a rocky one and flying was going to be an advantage. He didn't see any enemy Digimon yet, as they were most likely hiding. He also noticed that the Emperor wasn't making any threatening moves against TK or Patamon, who was still unconscious, the little guy probably took some damage when they were captured by Drimogemon. He had a general idea of what they could do to save TK, but he still needed to wait for the rest of the group and see what the new Digimon could do.

Finally, Davis heard some rustling in the forest behind him and saw Yolei, Cody, Kari, Sora, Izzy, and their Digimon come out. He put a finger to his lips, telling them to be quiet while he motioned them to the giant boulder. He whispered to them everything he'd been able to gather so far and when he was done, Kari introduced him to the new Digimon, Halsemon and Digmon.

Unfortunately, before they could devise a plan, they heard the Emperor yell, "I've had enough waiting Motomiya, I know you're there, so show yourself! And if you don't, then blondie here is going to have a rough trip down to terra firma!"

Davis silently cursed at the threat. Damn it! Only if they had gotten here faster, they might have been able to make a plan, but now not only did he have to show himself to the Emperor, but they had to rush in without a solid strategy.

Davis' mind suddenly worked at light speeds trying to work out something that might work as he felt some tinge in his neck. Finally coming up with something that might work, he whispered to the group, "Okay, I'm going to go out there, but you guys do not do _anything,_ no matter how bad it looks, don't do anything until Flamedramon saves TP, once he does, we'll attack. While you're waiting, please try not to give away our location."

He also gave a critical glance to Sora and Izzy when he said that last part, they understood what he meant, make sure that the new group didn't' make any noise. He received a collective nod from the group. Satisfied he, along with Veemon of course, showed themselves to the Emperor.

"Ah, Davis, so glad you could join us," said the Emperor. Davis didn't know why, but that voice sounded familiar. He also felt a malicious aura coming from the Emperor, full of evil and familiar but there was something else as well, beneath the evil aura…

"Please, the pleasure is all mine," Davis said sarcastically, glaring at the blue-haired boy. The Emperor just chuckled.

"Now, down to business, throw me your digivice," the Emperor ordered.

"And if I don't?" countered Davis looking challengingly at the blue-haired psychopath.

"Then…" the Emperor started as he pressed a button on his right gauntlet and then suddenly the metal bracelet holding TK's left leg opened up and let it hang loosely. "that will happen, if you catch my drift," said the Emperor.

Davis frowned; the Emperor seemed to have him cornered. If he didn't give his digivice, the Emperor would let TK drop to his death. Taking out the gray and blue digital device, Davis threw the device with and it landed a few feet away from the Emperor's feet. The Emperor smiled at that, though it was a malicious smile.

"Good, now, if you value blondie's life here, you'll jump off the cliff, I promise I won't let him drop to his death then," said the Emperor.

Behind the boulder, Sora, Kari, and Yolei had to use their hands to cover their gasps of fright.

"So, my life for his?" asked Davis looking calculatingly at the Emperor.

"Of course! Taking out the strongest first, a sound strategy. After all, what is an army without their leader?" laughed the Emperor.

"_You see Ken, we need to take out the Tyrannomon with the scar first," said a boy with maroon spikey hair who seemed to be the age of five or six. _

_"Huh? Why?" asked a blue-haired boy who was next to the first boy, he also seemed to be the age of five or six._

"_Because he's the strongest and the leader of the Tyrano Pack, so we need to take him out first. After all, what is an army without their leader?" replied the maroon haired boy with a smile. _

_The blue-haired boy smiled in understanding before taking out a small square-like digital device._

"So, what's it going to be, goggle head?" challenged the Emperor.

Davis growled before taking a step towards the edge. Kari was about to scream to tell Davis to stop behind the boulder if Sora hadn't covered her mouth. She was about to argue but she saw the older girl's eyes, they had to have faith in Davis, trust that he knew what he was doing; until then they couldn't do anything else, at least until they received the signal.

Davis by this time was as close to the edge as he could get without falling now. He took a deep breath and leaped, apparently to his death. Behind the boulder, this time, Izzy had to cover Yolei's scream of fright.

The Emperor laughed hysterically, he had _finally _beat his master! However stopped when he saw Davis, still airborne, snap his goggles on his eyes and pull out an oval-like gray and blue digital device, his digivice.

"NOOO!" roared the Emperor.

"_Huh? Why do you need paint and clay, Davis?" asked Jun as she looked bemusedly at her brother's request. _

"_Oh, I'm going to make some fake digivices and some other things, never know when I might need them," Davis replied with a smile. _

_Jun just shrugged and told him he could find some spare clay and paint in the closet. After looking for a couple of minutes, Davis found the clay and paint and then sat down to work._

"DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!" yelled Davis as Veemon also leaped off the cliff and armor digivolved into Flamedramon.

**~Que "Run-Around" By Jasan Radford~**

Flamedramon instantly shot towards TK and broke his metal bindings. Holding the blond in one of his hands, he leaped towards Patamon – who regained consciousness after the screaming of the Davis and the Emperor - and freed him as well and took him in his other hand.

Flamedramon, steadying himself, then leaped across the ravine and dropped off the Duo of Hope on the other side of the ravine that the group was at. Taking the signal, Yolei and Halsemon flew off towards the ravine as Cody and Digmon dug through the ground.

Flamedramon, once more taking a leap, finally went to save his partner who was still falling and took him to the Emperor's side of the ravine. The Emperor, enraged by the fact that his plans were crumbling right in front of him because of a stupid _clay sculpture, _summoned his reinforcements, dozens of Kuwagamon, Snimon, oh and that one Drimogemon that captured TK and Patamon.

The three battles started simultaneously, Digmon vs Drimogemon, Flamedramon and Halsemon vs Dozens of Kuwagamon and Snimon and finally Davis vs The Emperor. Team Emperor went first, with Drimogemon using his _Drill Spin _and trying to ram into Digmon, only for the yellow insectoid to dodge. The Snimon and Kuwagamon unleased their _Power Guillotine _and _Twin Sickle _attacks, the Kuwagamon going for Flamedramon and the Snimon going for Halsemon. The Emperor made the first move, charging straight at Davis.

_**-TIbD-**_

Digmon kept dodging Drimogemon's attacks, slowly pushing him back, until the controlled Digimon was in a corner.

"_**Gold Rush!"**_Digimon yelled as the drills on his arms flew straight at Drimogemon and destroyed the dark ring, the aftershock causing the Digimon to go unconscious. The new Duo of Knowledge nodded at each other before going back through the tunnel that led to the surface so they could help their friends.

_**-TIbD-**_

Halsemon dodged yet another _Twin Sickle _attack and fired her _Eagle Eye _freeing one more Snimon, this was taking forever! Flamedramon was having a bit more luck, using his _Fire Rocket _attack so he could set himself ablaze and then he jumped towards the nearest Kuwagamon and instantly destroyed the dark ring on contact, then using the same Kuwagamon as a foot landing, he leaped towards another Kuwagamon and destroyed its dark ring. He repeated this until all of the red insects were dark-ring free.

_**-TIbD- **_

Davis was surprised at the charge, it seemed familiar and reminded him of someone, but he quickly shook off his thoughts and refocused his attention on the battle. He easily sidestepped the charge and attempted to grab the Emperor's wrist, but just as he was going to make contact, he felt a burning sensation in his neck and instinctively grabbed the spot where it was burning. He felt the dark aura that he sensed earlier suddenly flare-up.

Davis retreated, knowing that he would have been done for if he tried to fight with the pain in his neck, but that's when he saw the Emperor also clutch his neck as well, as if in pain.

The pain had stopped finally, apparently for both of them at the same time as they rushed towards their foe. Right before they clashed, the Emperor moved at inhuman speeds and quickly moved to the left and used his foot to trip Davis and retreated. Davis' eyes widened at the speed the Emperor moved at. Again, the aura flared. Just as the Emperor did that, the blue-haired boy felt something sting in his neck once more.

Davis's perspective of time slowed down as the Emperor charged at him, all the while he felt a stinging sensation in his neck, he looked around for something that could help him and saw a lone rock in the distance. It was too far away to grab, but that was the only object that could help him at this point as he couldn't get up in time to avoid the Emperor's attack.

Davis' eyes narrowed as he moved at the same speeds the Emperor did seconds ago and slid towards the rock and quickly turned around and kicked it at the Emperor using all his years of soccer practice.

_**-TIbD- **_

Flamedramon tried the same strategy on the Snimon, but it didn't work. They were all too fast and small. He growled, they needed to finish this before the Emperor's reinforcements came, they were on a rescue mission, not on a fighting and freeing Digimon one. He was trying to think of a plan as he dodged another _Twin Sickle _and he used his _Knuckle Fire _to destroy another dark-ring. Seeing his knuckle fire gave him an idea.

"Halsemon! Do you think you can use your Tempest Wing to blow all of the Snimon in one area?" he yelled

"Of course I can!" the flying bird thing yelled back.

"Alright then! Do it! Push them towards me!" yelled the dragon-man and he received a nod from the new Duo of Love.

"_**Tempest Wing!"**_Halsemon yelled as he spun around at very high speeds and created a tornado that pushed all Snimon towards Flamedramon, leaving a very dizzy Yolei to regain her composure.

"_**Knuckle Fire!" **_yelled the dragon-man as he threw three fireballs at the insects, taking out a good chunk of them. Not losing his momentum, Flamedramon repeated this until they were all fried and dark-ring free. Digmon and Cody came just in time to see the last Snimon fall.

_**-TIbD-**_

Now it was the Emperor's turn to be shocked at his opponent's speed but managed to dive away from the rock in time before it hit his knee. Both fighters managed to get up at the same time and once more rushed towards each other. The Emperor aiming for a punch at Davis' face and the maroon apparently going for the stomach, but at the last second, Davis, once again, moving at unimaginable speeds - with the neck pain of course - dropped down and gave the Emperor a sweep kick.

Before he could finish the fight, Davis heard a _very _familiar voice yell, "Get away from him! _Sticky Net!" _Davis turned around to see a green caterpillar rushing in front of the Emperor and firing white sticky silk at his foot, sticking it to the ground.

Davis' eyes nearly jumped out of his head when he saw the caterpillar. _'A Wormmon? But the only one I know was… It couldn't be! But that voice, the hair…' _Davis shook his thoughts when he saw Wormmon coming for him, he tried to escape but he couldn't. But then another familiar, more welcome voice yelled _**"Knuckle Fire!" **_and three fireballs stopped the green bug in its tracks.

**~Music End~**

Flamedramon and the rest of the group came to Davis' aid and they looked at the Emperor, who finally managed to get back up on his feet. Davis also got back up as his partner burned away the silk.

"Dammit! Retreat, we have to retreat! Wormmon digivolve!" yelled the Emperor, shocking all present, including Davis and Flamedramon. The Emperor held up his dark digivice, it was the same model as Davis' - but it was black - and dark energy emitted from it and went straight at Wormmon. The maroon haired boy once again felt the aura flare up, but this time it was concentrated, and it went straight for the green Digimon.

"**Wormmon Digivolve to…. Stingmon!" **as the light faded, the DigiDestined saw their new foe, a green insectoid slightly taller than Flamedramon and had black armor, orange eyes, and two pairs of white wings. The DigiDestined stood in shock as they witnessed the Emperor achieve digivolution and apparently had a _Digimon partner! _While Davis and Flamedramon were in shock at seeing the familiar insectoid. _'Could it really be the same one: And is that really him?_' the Duo of Miracles thought. Davis was suddenly glad he didn't e-mail Ken last night.

The Emperor quickly jumped on Stingmon's back as they started to fly away, making their escape. Almost everyone seemed content with letting them go, as all the armor Digimon de-digivolved when Stingmon took flight. TK, however, was not content with letting the Emperor go. He was still mad at what the Emperor told him, he was also mad that he was _completely _useless in battle, as well the fact that Davis, even though he already got enough glory with saving him, still fought the Emperor one on one, hand to hand, and again while he had to stay and watch as the goggle-head got even more glory. He really wasn't thinking very clearly.

The only thing on his mind was to get back at the Emperor and prove him wrong. Which is probably the only good excuse as to why he went after the Emperor and flying insect that was at least twice his size. He yelled "Get back here you jerks! You're not getting away!"

The Emperor turned around to see the blond running after them, and he sneered "If you want to fight, then let us grant your wish! Stingmon, attack that pathetic weakling!"

TK stopped running as Stingmon stopped flying and turned towards him, Stingmon raised his left arm and yelled _**"Moon Shooter!"**_A foot-long, inch wide arrow of pure dark green energy materialized in front of Stingmon, who grabbed it and threw it at the still frozen TK. After shooting, the insect and its partner started to fly away again.

Time seemed to slow down as everyone stood in shock as the arrow sped towards TK, who _still _couldn't move. The arrow itself was so sharp that it actually cut the air. Davis, what felt like the hundredth time today, ran towards TK at unbelievable speeds, again accompanied by the neck pain. Even with the increased speed, however, Davis didn't think he was going to be able to save TK in time.

He would have to go faster, he needed more speed, speed that he didn't have, or so he thought. He growled, there was _no way _he was going to let this stupid blond moron die after all he had to go through to save him in the first place! The throbbing pain in his neck doubled as he forced himself to run faster, his perspective of time slowed, and his mind's processing speed increased dramatically.

He couldn't push the moron, or he would risk pushing him straight at the arrow, killing him. He doubted he could grab the back of his shirt and run away, with the speed he was going now, along with the speed of the arrow, Davis calculated he was going to make it to the blond around a second before the arrow and there was no way Davis was going to be able to stop running, grab TK, and start running backwards with the extra weight of TK in that small time frame, even with this incredible speed.

There was no other way, he was going to risk taking the hit. Davis kept running till he was right in front of TK, he risked a look over his shoulder and saw that the arrow was mere milliseconds away from killing them. Using all the time and strength he had left, Davis pushed TK to the ground and repositioned himself to hopefully avoid the arrow.

It almost worked, TK was on the ground and away from the arrow's reach and the arrow didn't hit Davis in the chest or any vital organs. Instead, Davis managed to relocate himself, so the arrow glazed his right shoulder, instantly shredding his skin and tissues, letting the warm red liquid come out.

Thankfully the arrow only hit the top of his shoulder, and not through it, so after hit Davis, it kept going towards to ground, eventually digging a ten-inch-deep hole before the arrow finally dissolved into 0's and 1's. Though no one noticed it, in the split second that the arrow hit Davis' shoulder, his eyes turned golden.

Time seemed to return to with the scream of pain by Davis, his speed, preception dilation, and extra sharp mind, gone, all that was left was the extreme pain in his neck. Stingmon and the Emperor were long gone, using the arrow as a distraction to leave. TK got up and looked in horror at Davis' wound and the hole the arrow made, if he had gotten struck by that… He shuddered at the thought.

Davis' scream seemed the break the others out of their trance as they all ran towards Davis and TK. Kari reached them first, instantly dropping down to her knees and taking off his jacket to get a better look at the cut. Sora and Yolei gasped when they saw the wound, while Cody, TK, and Izzy all paled. Kari ripped off a piece of cloth from Davis' shirt to wipe away the surface blood while Davis futilely tried to get up on his feet.

"Oh no you don't Daisuke! You're hurt and you need treatment so you're going to sit back down and let me get you help!" Kari hissed as she pushed him back on the ground.

"Kari, it's fine, this isn't that bad," Davis tried to explain.

"No this isn't fine! Look at how much blood you lost, if you lose more it could be fatal!" Kari said as she once again pushed the maroon haired boy back to the ground.

"Okay, okay, fine. I'll be a good boy and wait for my medicine, alright? Veemon?" Davis said before turning back to his partner, who immediately understood and went running off to the forest.

"Veemon's going to get something that'll fix this little cut up good, okay?" Davis said looking back at the others. Everyone relaxed as they heard that, they trusted that Veemon and Davis knew what they were doing.

But that also meant they sat in awkward silence waiting for the blue dragon to return. That was until Yolei got an idea, "Hey Sora, you had the Crest of Love before to right, so you could you give some pointers that might help me as a DigiDestined?" Yolei asked the orange-haired girl, using it as a distraction to leave the awkward and tense silence.

"Yeah sure, come on over this way," said Sora as she and Yolei went away from the group for their private chat, their Digimon following close behind.

Following his fellow DigiDestined's example, Cody asked Izzy the same thing, and they also went away for their own private conversation, leaving Kari, TK, Davis, Patamon, and Gatomon alone.

After making sure that Davis wasn't going to try and head for the hills the second she looked away, Kari turned her attention to TK, her expression filled with uncontrolled rage. Upon seeing this, both Gatomon and Patamon paled and ran for cover.

"What is wrong with you?! What in the Digital World possessed you to go after a champion Digimon _and _the Emperor alone, _especially _when your partner can't digivolve! Did it ever cross your mind that it might be dangerous?! News flash, it was! Now because of you, Davis got hurt!" Kari said, glaring at her old friend.

TK was too stunned to speak, sure he messed up a little, okay a lot, he nearly got himself killed and Davis, _yet again, _had to save him. But did she really have to be so angry at him and protective of the goggle head? Davis too was glaring at the blond hatefully, but then suddenly stopped. Why was he glaring at him, why was he mad? Sure, the moron nearly got himself killed and Davis got hurt when he saved him, but this was nothing new. He had lived through this thousands of times before, so why did he feel incredible rage directed towards TK? Unknown to Davis, while he was thinking this over, the area where his neck hurt earlier today pulsed red.

TK was saved from Kari when she saw Veemon running towards them. In the small dragon's hands were six autumn red leaves and one large green leaf. The rest of the group also returned when they saw Veemon running towards them, once he reached them, he laid the red leaves on the ground in a pile.

Veemon turned to Hawkmon and said, "Hawkmon, if you would be so kind…" Immediately catching on, the red bird took off its feather ornament on its head and yelled. _"Feather Strike!" _Hawkmon used the feather as a boomerang and threw it at the leaves, cutting them into small tiny pieces.

This time, Veemon turned to Armadillomon, who also caught on. Armadillomon walked up towards the pile of leaves and said, _"Hard Brick!"_as his right paw glowed yellow and then he brought it down to the leaves, crushing them.

Satisfied, Veemon walked up towards the pile and said, _"Vee Shot!"_as small a small blue fireball came out of his mouth and hit the small crushed pieces of leaves, burning them. Now taking the large green leaf, he scooped up the newly made medicine and brought it towards Davis. Taking a handful of the red, cut, crushed and now burned mess of leaves, he gently put on the wound, spreading it out. Davis flinched at first before easing back up when Veemon gently massaged his wound.

Everyone was in awe as they watched the blue dragon do his work. The red medicine on Davis' wound dissolved before their very eyes, but neither Davis nor Veemon seemed surprised, the blue dragon just happily placing more of the red medicine and continuing his work. A couple of minutes later, all the medicine was gone as Veemon used it all on the wound and Davis stood up.

"Okay, that should stop the wound from getting infected and should numb the pain, I just need a makeshift bandage now…" Davis trailed off. Kari quickly brought the clean piece of cloth she ripped from Davis' shirt up and tied it up to on the wound.

"Alright! I'm good as new!" Davis said enthusiastically.

"Davis, if I may ask, what are those leaves?" asked Izzy curiously.

"Oh, those? They're a type of healing herbs, ones that kill bacteria actually. If you cut them up, crush them, and burn them a little, they can kill most bacteria instantly," answered Davis.

Kari's eyes narrowed when she heard this, "_Most _bacteria?" she asked.

"Y-Yes…" answered Davis, already seeing how this was going to end.

"Are you one hundred percent sure that the medicine killed _all _of the potential bacteria from Stingmon's attack?" asked Kari in a dangerously calm voice. Everyone was once again surprised at how Kari was acting. Who knew that sweet, calm, and caring Kari had a side like this to her?

"W-Well not _one hundred_ percent sure... B-But I'm fine, _honest!_" Davis tried desperately.

"Not happening, Joe can check the wound at DigiDestined meeting today, he's studying to be a doctor and you're coming," Kari stated firmly.

"I thought the meeting was for you older kids," Davis tried once again.

"You're older than me!" countered Kari.

"Only by a measly two months," Davis didn't even know why he was even trying anymore.

Davis expected a snappy reply from his friend, most likely about his stubbornness or lack of self-awareness, but instead he got a pleading look and soft "Please Davis, just come to the meeting to make sure there isn't any poison in the wound, you can leave after if you want but please check it out."

Davis mentally cursed his disability to say no to those eyes. Even after eight years, most of the time Kari could give him the puppy dog eyes and submit him to her will. He sighed and nodded towards the brunette, who instantly smiled happily at that.

"Thanks, Davis!" she said happily. After that, the group went back to the digi-port to go back to the real world, _not _all in a dogpile this time. Actually, they managed to take turns like civilized humans this time.

_**-TIbD- **_

Davis, Kari, and their partners were the last ones out of the portal. They were back at the computer lab and a quick glance at the clock said they were gone for nearly two and a half hours. It was six-fifteen, so they were already late for the meeting.

"Hey, the new Digimon returned to their in-training forms," Patamon pointed out talking about the pink softball with wings and white softball with ears.

"Yup! I'm Upamon," said the white Digimon.

"And I'm Poromon, said the pink Digimon.

"But, what about Biyomon and Tentomon?" Sora asked concerned as they were the only Digimon that didn't come through the portal.

"Don't worry about us, Sora!" the voice of Biyomon answered, they looked back at the monitor to see the pink bird and red insect waving at them.

"Yeah! We'll go back to the camp Flamedramon showed us; with all of those Digimon we'll be able to take any slaves of the Emperor!" Tentomon said enthusiastically.

Before anyone could question what they meant, Veemon suddenly said "You guys have the right idea," looking at the in-training Digimon. _Veemon De-Digivolve to… DemiVeemon! _Veemon glowed yellow before he shrunk into a small adorable blue dragon plushie thing. When Sora looked back at the monitor, she saw it was turned off, the portal closed, she sighed.

"Umm... Vee, why did you de-digivolve?" asked Davis.

"Cause this way I can pass for a doll in your world and I don't have to walk," the blue dragon said in the cutest voice ever before jumping on Davis' head. Davis smiled when his partner did that, it was just like old times, but Kari gave DemiVeemon a disapproving look.

"DemiVeemon, I'm not sur-" Kari started but was cut off by Davis.

"Come on Kari, I may be injured but I'm not made of glass you know," Davis said with a pleading look. Kari sighed, she'll let this one through, besides DemiVeemon didn't seem that heavy so it was fine.

"Alright everyone, let's go!" Kari said as she headed out the door, with the Miracle Duo following close behind and soon everyone else as well.

When they reached Matt's place, the meeting would start, and Davis would get proper treatment. They were also going to have to discuss the new armor digivolutions and Digimon as well in the meeting. All in all, it was going to be one _long _afternoon.

_**-TIbD-**_

**A/N:** Well that's another chapter finished, hope you enjoyed it! This might be the last chapter I can get done in while because currently I'm moving so my internet's going out AND I have finals coming up… Life _really_ hates me… So, if updates take a while you know why! Anyhow, on to the reviews! :D

**Little White Comet: **Thanks for your support! Glad you enjoyed it, oh and what seed? I don't see any seeds *winks* :P Oh by the way, when's the next chapter of "A Touch of Miracles," still waiting for the next one, can't wait for it. :D

**MiraclesxFaith****: ** I guess you could call this an adoption but I'm mainly using one of his ideas as a base for my story, so it's a twist on one of his ideas! I'll try and fix my grammar mistakes, thanks for pointing them out!

**Mr. Craken: **Really! Wow, thanks, man! I try my best :P

**kioj: **Thanks!

**MatarasBloodKnight: **Well, if you think this is good, then I must be doing something right! :D

**It1023: **I'm with you man, I'm really sad that Connected/Linked to Darkness was never finished, though that's why I made this story. :P Glad, you like it so far and yes, this is going to be a Daikari, but romance isn't going to be the main focus.

Anyhow thanks for all your support and patience.

Till next time!

**Edit (5/30/19) – Added Tentomon and Biyomon when the group come back to the real world. - **"_But, what about Biyomon and Tentomon?" Sora asked concerned as they were the only Digimon that didn't come through the portal._

"_Don't worry about us, Sora!" the voice of Biyomon answered, they looked back at the monitor to see the pink bird and red insect waving at them._

"_Yeah! We'll go back to the camp Flamedramon showed us; with all of those Digimon we'll be able to take any slaves of the Emperor!" Tentomon said enthusiastically. Before anyone could as what they meant, the monitor turned off._


	3. Meetings, Eggs, and Victories

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Digimon or any of the characters in it.

**A/N: **Okay Chapter 3 is out! Sorry for the wait; I'll try and get the next one out faster but for now enjoy this long one!

As a token of apology, I've made a small game for you guys, I'm going to put a quote at the beginning of the chapter and the first review that tells me the character that said it will get a shout out in the next chapter! Most (if not all) quotes will be from the English dub by the way!

I've edited chapters 1 & 2 and noticed I forgot to add a couple things, so I added them. If you've already read those chapters, you can just go back and read the endnotes to see what changed, then come back to this one.

On a related note, I'll be putting how and why each character is acting at the endnotes of chapter 3 because some characters may seem completely out of character or just plain out different. Oh, and before I forget, I'm also going to put how many words I'm done typing for the next chapter on my profile and I'll try to update it as frequently as I can. So, make sure to check that every once in awhile, to see my progress on the next chapter.

Since I'm dropping all this information, I might as well also put the timeline at the end of the chapter as well.

But enough rambling, on with the chapter!

_**-TIbD- **_

"_I swore I would never let anyone see me cry. But really, all I ever wanted to do was cry."_

**Chapter 3: **Meetings, Eggs, and Victories

"Argh! Where are they? They should have been here fifteen minutes ago," complained Tai as he, Yamato "Matt" Ishida, and Joe Kido sat on the couch waiting for the rest of their group. The three boys were waiting for Izzy, Sora, TK, and Kari to get here. They also needed Izzy so they could Skype call Mimi for the meeting. Currently, it was six twenty, so the group were already twenty minutes late.

"Stop complaining Tai, for the sixth time. Something must've come up, they'll get here as soon as they can," Joe patiently said. Tai sighed, Joe was right, they'll get here when they could. He just hoped nothing bad happened in the Digital World, he knew his sister could take care of herself, but that didn't stop him from being worried, however, he got some comfort knowing that both Izzy and Davis were with the group.

As if on cue, the second Tai sighed, there was a knock on the door and Tai practically jumped from his seat and ran towards the door. Opening it, he saw his sister, he gave a small sigh of relief, "Hey Kari, what took yo-" but Tai got cut off by his little sister.

"No time! Is Joe here?" Kari urgently asked. At the exact second, Davis and Izzy came around the corner, soon followed by Sora and TK. Yolei and Cody already went home when they passed their street. Tai frowned when he saw Davis, hadn't they decided that the meeting was between the older kids? Well, technically Davis _was _older than Kari, but that was besides the point. Before Tai could reply, Joe came behind Tai and asked, "Who called my name?" apparently Joe came out when he heard his name being called. Now it was the younger Kamyia sibling's turn to sign in relief.

"Follow us," she said as she grabbed Davis' healthy arm and all but dragged him to the sofa. Everyone followed after her. Davis sat on the sofa as he was taking off his jacket, the one he wore in the real world as the flame one was an addition when he traveled to the Digital World.

"Davis needed to get medical attention and considering the circumstances, Joe was our best option," Sora answered the question they were all silently asking.

Tai's eyes narrowed when he heard this, Davis got hurt in the Digital World? He was usually tough and could take most things without a hitch, so if he really needed to get medical attention…

"I'm telling you, it's just a small cu- ARGH!" Davis was silenced when Kari pinched his healthy arm, he pouted in response, but Kari just giggled, finally seeming to calm down.

"Okay, okay, I'll be a good boy and let the doctor treat my small cut, okay? Sheesh," said Davis as he finally managed to take off his jacket and makeshift bandage.

Tai, Matt, and Joe all paled on seeing the wound, as they were the only ones who hadn't seen it yet. Joe quickly regained his composure and quickly started examining the wound. Kari sat down next to Davis to make sure he didn't make a break for it and try to escape but she seemed to relax when Joe started working on the cut.

"I-I'll get some lemonade for us, okay?" Matt hesitantly said, still in shock from seeing the huge gash on Davis' shoulder.

"And I'll help," Sora quickly said as she followed Matt to the kitchen. Tai, for a reason he couldn't fathom, felt something tighten in his chest as Sora followed Matt to the kitchen, he honestly had no clue why he felt the foreign and unidentified emotion.

He shook it off. He had more important things to about. Davis. What happened to him in the Digital World? Where and how did he get that gash on his shoulder? The "where" was most likely the Digital World, but how? He was at a loss on how it happened, and weren't Izzy and Sora supposed to protect the younger kids? Apparently, it was the older ones that needed protecting instead.

The holders of Love and Friendship left, leaving Joe, who was attending to Davis, Kari, Davis, who were both sitting on the couch, and Tai, who was sitting in a chair alone. TK went to the bathroom when they came in. Izzy went into the kitchen to plug in his laptop and do goodness knows what.

"The cut was from an attack from Stingmon, an insect Digimon, there shouldn't be any poison left though," Davis informed Joe, who nodded. The new information would help him treat the wound much faster and better. _'So that's how he got the cut, from a Digimon. A Stingmon, huh? Never heard of it. But why would Davis get hit, wasn't Flamedramon supposed to protect him?' _Tai thought.

After a couple of minutes with uncomfortable silence, Joe got up and batted the sweat from his forehead away and said "Okay, Davis, you were right, there shouldn't be any poison but just in case I'm going to put some antiseptic cream to get rid of any small specks that may be lurking in your bloodstream," Joe said as he went into his bag looking for something.

"See? I told you it wasn't anything to worry about," Davis said, sounding a little tired.

"Quiet you," Kari replied as she scooted next to him, but had a content and warm smile on her face.

Once again, the group fell into silence, but this time it seemed comfortable as the fact that Davis was going to be okay lifted a huge weight off their shoulders. TK finally came out of the bathroom, no longer looking dirty, and went off into the kitchen to help Matt and Sora with the orange flying hamster flying behind them. A little later, Joe brought something out of his bag, a small green toothpaste-like container, he also had a bottle of water as well.

After once again using hand sanitizer to clean his hands, Joe poured some of the water on a small towel and cleaned the wound. Then using the dry part of the same towel, he dried the skin around the cut and finally added the antiseptic cream before putting a proper bandage on the wound.

"Alright, that should do it, there isn't much I can do now. I recommend that he takes it easy for a couple days, and to be careful not to reopen the wound. But my question is why did Davis get attacked by a Digimon and why were you guys in the Digital World?" Joe commented

Kari was about to reply when DemiVeemon made his presence known by jumping on Kari's lap and yawned loudly before leaning on Kari's stomach, falling asleep instantly. Both Tai and Joe sweatdropped when they saw this.

Kari however, smiled instead, Davis and Veemon were more alike than she first thought. The number of times when Davis would just fall asleep out of nowhere when they were younger would take years to count, obviously, DemiVeemon followed Davis in that department.

"And he's…" Joe trailed off looking at the small blue dragon.

"Davis' partner," Kari answered. She turned to her maroon haired friend and was about to hand his partner to him but then she saw his eyes closed, his breathing relaxed, and unmoving. A warm smile appeared on her lips, Davis seemed to have fallen asleep and _wasn't _having any nightmares this time. Finally, he could actually get some rest, god knows he needed it. She carefully stood up – the small dragon cradled in her arms – and gently placed said dragon next to his partner. A small smile tugged upon Davis' lips, as if he was sensing his partner's presence.

"He must've really been out of it to fall asleep like that," Tai commented, standing up.

"With the size of that cut, he must've lost a lot of blood and he's most likely very tired, I'm not surprised he fell asleep actually," Joe replied, also standing up. The three of them calmly walked towards the kitchen, with Gatomon following behind.

_**-TIbD- **_

Everyone was seated around the kitchen table after Sora, TK, and Matt served them their drinks. Izzy was still working on his computer for what seemed like forever but in reality, it was only a couple minutes before he finally said "Okay! Finally, Mimi picked up her Skype call!" He put his laptop on the table, so it was facing everyone and then took his seat.

"H-H-Hello *yawn* e-everyone," Mimi said over the skype call, trying miserably to look awake. The group just greeted her normally. Everyone had to remind themselves Mimi lived on the other side of the world, so she was in a different time zone.

"So Tai, mind enlightening us why you called this meeting? And who the heck is he? asked Matt pointing to Davis.

"As most of you guessed, the Digital World is in danger again, _serious _danger. As for Davis, we'll get on that later," Tai said. Everyone tensed on hearing that, it's been a couple years since Gennai had called them back to the Digital World to give up the power of their crests, ever since then the gate's been closed, only opening at random moments though they never managed to pass through them - until yesterday when Tai went back - because they would close too fast. Yesterday, for some reason the gate was able to stabilize itself so Tai could pass through, as if it knew Tai needed to save his partner.

Tai waited for this to sink in before he started talking again. "There is this guy calling himself the 'Digimon Emperor,' he uses his dark rings to control Digimon against their will and force them to do his bidding, though I've never seen him in person yet. And according to Agumon, he uses his dark digivice to prohibit digivolution," Tai said. Everyone who didn't know this before either paled or gasped in Mimi's case.

"How are we going to beat him if our partners are stuck as rookies?" asked Mimi, scared for their Digimon friends as they were practically defenseless if they couldn't digivolve.

"We have a temporary solution to that, but first let's start at the beginning," Tai said as everyone nodded in agreement. Even if they wanted to hear the solution, they knew knowing everything first was more important.

"Yesterday, I got a distress signal from Agumon via my digivice. I managed to travel through a gate before it closed, but what I saw was less than pleasing. Digimon were being attacked by the dark rings and enslaved by them, those that were controlled were forced to hunt down their friends or do the Emperor's bidding," Tai started. "What's worse is that I found out that Agumon couldn't digivolve because of the Emperor's dark digivice, we were forced to hide. We ran towards a cave, that's when I found the Digi-Egg, it had a steel horn sticking out of it and the Crest of Courage on the front."

"Wait, it had your Crest?" Matt asked, wanting to clarify.

"Yes, we're calling it the Digi-Egg of Courage for now," Tai said.

"Anyway, I tried to pick up the egg, but it wouldn't budge," Tai started again but again got interrupted by Matt.

"Why couldn't you pick up the egg? Aren't you supposed to be the Embodiment of Courage or something?" the blond asked.

"I don't know," Tai answered, "but please stop interrupting me so I can finish this," he said impatiently. Matt backed off and gave a small nod.

"As I was saying, I couldn't pick up the egg but after I tried, three lights came out of it. One blue, one red, and one yellow," Tai started again.

"Oh, so that's what that was!" Izzy explained beaming at the revelation. Tai looked at him questioningly.

"Yesterday, when I got your e-mail, I met up with TK, Kari, and Davis. When I was trying to get the gate to open, three lights came out, one red, one blue, and one yellow. The blue hit Davis' digivice and transformed it, into what seems to be a newer model, the other two went to Cody Hida and Yolei Inoue, and gave them their digivices, the same model that Davis has," Izzy explained.

"Wait, wait, wait, Davis was a DigiDestined before? New digivices?" Joe asked.

Izzy nodded "Yeah, we'll explain that later but first let Tai finish," the redhead said. Tai also nodded.

"I met up with Davis, Kari, and TK and we went to the cave. Both Kari and TK tried to pick up the egg, but they couldn't do it either. However, when Davis tried, he did it with no problem, after he picked the egg up a new Digimon came out. He called himself Veemon," continued the brunette.

"Why would the new kid be able to pick it up?" asked Mimi over the call.

"I think I know why, Veemon was sealed under the egg and he's Davis' partner so I believe Davis was meant to pick it up," Izzy answered. Tai and Mimi both nodded at that.

"Anyway, after that we were attacked by a Monochromon that had a dark ring attached to its waist," Tai said.

"How'd you guys beat it if you couldn't digivolve?" asked Matt. Tai pointed back towards the miracle duo behind them.

"You can thank Davis for that. He and Veemon managed to take down the Monochromon by tricking it to ram itself headfirst into a tree, all without digivolving," Tai stated, everyone's eyes widened in surprise.

"We were about to leave, but we got attacked once again, this time by a herd of twenty Monochromon, all with dark rings. Long story short, Davis managed to use the Digi-Egg of Courage to digivolve Veemon into Flamedramon, somehow bypassing the digivolution block. I believe they called it armor digivolving," the goggle-headed boy said.

"Armor digivolving huh? Sounds interesting," Matt said.

"It is, apparently this type of digivolution can bypass the Emperor's digivolution block. The armor Digimon seem to be as strong as a Champion level," Izzy said.

"Flamedramon destroyed all the dark rings, freeing the Monochromon. He led the others to a safe place to hide for the night while we went back home," Tai said finishing off his tale.

"Those two seem pretty amazing, taking out a Champion with a rookie and then taking out a whole herd of Champions with only one Digimon," Joe said. Once again, TK tensed a little at hearing Davis' praise but managed to keep his cool.

"They are. Sora and Izzy were supposed to take the new kids to show them the Digital World today, so what happened? And more importantly, how did Davis get that gash on his shoulder?" Tai asked, looking at the Holders of Love and Knowledge.

"We appeared in the forest you were at yesterday, Tai. Davis told us to not run off because it was dangerous to go roaming around without a partner. The new kids didn't believe him then, but there was a Ninjamon hiding in the grass, with a dark ring on its head. None of us saw it expect Davis, he threw a rock and the Ninjamon leapt out and went straight for Davis, looking to slice his head off and k-kill him," Sora started, hesitantly saying the last two words.

"Wait what?!" explained Matt, despite his astonishment and fear, he kept his voice low so he wouldn't wake up Davis. They had faced Digimon that wanted to kill them before, that was a given, but this Digimon was controlled by a dark ring, so that meant he was _ordered _to kill Davis, by the Emperor, another human, not a Digimon.

"But that would mean the Emperor ordered him to kill Davis!" Mimi said, voicing Matt's thoughts.

"Unfortunately, that seems to be the case, our foe seems to have a grudge against Davis. I wonder if there's a history between them," Izzy said thoughtfully at the end. "Out of all of us, the Emperor only sees Davis as a worthy foe, he barely even acknowledges the rest of our existence."

"That _jerk! _When I get my hands on him…" the Holder of Sincerity growled.

"Chill it, Mimi, we all want to get a shot at the Emperor, but we don't want to pull a Tai and get ourselves killed," Matt said.

"Hey what's that supposed to mean?!" rebuked the eldest goggle head, but the blond ignored him and said, "Go on, what happened after that, and how'd Davis survive this one?"

"He managed to dodge in time, the Ninjamon couldn't stop himself so he rammed straight into a tree and got his sword stuck. The rest of us were too shocked to do anything to help Davis though," the organette continued. "Davis was looking for a tree specific tree and snapped off a branch from a purple one and used it as a sword. Just in time too, as Ninjamon broke free his sword and charged at Davis, who used the stick to block Ninjamon's attack. For some reason, the stick didn't get sliced in half by the sword and managed to hold its own."

The ones that didn't know that already were surprised, but refrained from commenting, each just brushing it off as something weird of the Digital World.

Sora continued, "Both of them got their weapons ready, it was almost like watching a movie now that I think about it. Anyway, Ninjamon charged at Davis who _caught the sword with his bare hands!_" The organette stopped there, knowing there was going to be an astonished commented and/or collective gasp.

Sure enough, there was. "What?! Who is this kid?" Mimi asked, they just keep getting surprised by the minute.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Sora replied. She herself was still amazed at what Davis had done against Ninjamon, who wouldn't be though? "Davis managed to land a hit on the dark ring, damaging it and caused Ninjamon to retreat. They got ready again and this time Davis attacked, Ninjamon blocked it and charged at Davis again, but Davis dropped down and knocked Ninjamon off balance and hit the dark ring, destroying it this time," Sora finished.

"Wow…" both Matt and Joe whispered. Matt even lost his "cool dude" attitude for a few moments, first taking on a Monochromon with a rookie and now taking on a Ninjamon _without _any Digimon.

"This Davis kid is something else," Mimi said, still amazed. Tai, the only other person who didn't witness the fight smirked a little, _'Guess this settles it, Davis you're going to be the new leader, whether you like it or not.' _

"Before anymore Digimon could attack us, Flamedramon and the others found us. We went towards a nearby plain so if we needed to fight, Flamedramon wouldn't accidentally burn us alive. A long story short, the ground opened up underneath Davis and he fell in, at the same time a swarm of Kuwagamon and Snimon ambushed us, and since our Digimon can't digivolve, we were defenseless," Sora finished. "Thankfully, Davis still managed to make Veemon armor digivolve into Flamedramon and destroy all of the dark rings. Flamedramon went after Davis, threw him in the air, freed Drimogemon and leaped out and grabbed Davis to stop him from falling to his death. We thought we were safe, but the Emperor had other plans, apparently, the Drimogemon that captured Davis was only a distraction to capture TK and Patamon, which unfortunately they did

"Wait, TK and Patamon got captured? Why didn't Davis or Flamedramon save them?" Matt explained, quickly slipping to overprotective big brother mode.

"Hey! It's not Davis' fault TK got captured, he should've been able to take of himself! Davis isn't responsible for TK or Patamon's safety," Kari hissed, she was still agitated at TK for the stunt he pulled and what Davis paid for it. Everyone was shocked at Kari's response, even Tai and Sora.

Sure, she would be protective of the maroon haired boy, but she never like this. The tone she used showed that she seemed _very _aggrieved. Izzy quickly explained before Kari could explode anymore, "When the Drimogemon opened the ground under TK and Patamon, Flamedramon was already on leaping path to catch Davis – who was still in the air – so he couldn't attack Drimogemon without accidentally hurting TK or Patamon, plus Davis was close to hitting the ground so Flamedramon still had to save him." Matt seemed to calm down a little, but Kari still looked like a tigress ready to pounce if an enemy tried to hurt its mate, in this case, her friend.

"Davis managed to get the location function on his digivice working and we set off to find TK, but around halfway there, the new kids' – Yolei and Cody – digivices started beeping. It showed a map and showed the Crests of Knowledge and Love respectively. Davis and I theorized that they were the new Digi-Eggs for the new kids," Izzy continued. "We needed to get the eggs but also save TK, so we split up, with Davis and Flamedramon going after TK and the rest of us after the eggs. We reached the temple with the eggs, the Digi-Egg of Knowledge and Love were sitting on pillars in the middle of the room. Both Sora and I tried to lift them up but to no avail, but when Cody and Yolei tried, they achieved perfect results, lifting the eggs with no problem."

"You guys too, huh?" Tai asked as Izzy and Sora nodded in reply.

"Anyhow, after they lifted the eggs, two new Digimon came out, they called themselves Hawkmon and Armadillomon," Sora added.

"What's weird is that despite spending months in the Digital World, we've never seen a Veemon, Armadillomon, or Hawkmon, ever. Not even when I was browsing through the list of Digimon back when Gennai installed the Digimon analyzer on my laptop" Izzy stated.

"Well that's because they're believed to be extinct," Gatomon supplied nonchalantly, adding to the conversation for the first time since the meeting started. For what felt like the six millionth time, the entire group stared wide-eyed and shocked to their core. They always believed that Digimon would come back to life after being deleted, so how does a Digimon become extinct?! Tai asked this very question, "B-But Digimon turn into eggs after dying, so how does a Digimon even become extinct!?"

"That's true, normally. But there are some _wicked _ways to kill a Digimon, forever, to the point where their data is destroyed beyond repair," Patamon said, also contributing to the conversation. "Thankfully, all methods are sealed away, and it is believed no one knows how to do that."

"S-So how'd Veemon, Hawkmon, and Armadillomon become extinct?" asked Kari, she honestly was afraid of the answer. Everyone else also hesitantly nodded.

"There's this legend told to baby Digimon after they hatch from their digi-eggs, long, long ago when the Digital World was young, everybody lived in peace with one another. The main reason believed for this is because back then digivolution was _extremely _rare, it is said that it took millions of years for a Digimon to reach just the _rookie _stage," Gatomon started. Once again everyone was shocked at this, they knew natural digivolution took a long time, but _millions _of years just for the rookie stage? In the present time, a couple million years usually gets a Digimon to at least the Ultimate level, most of the time to Mega level.

"Since most Digimon were in-training levels or under, they couldn't fight, at least not enough to start wars, so they settled for living in harmony with one another. It lasted for a couple hundred years," Patamon added. Everyone was listening intently to the tale.

"Unfortunately, some evil Digimon weren't satisfied with being weak and small and after seeing other digivolutions take place, they wanted to see what was beyond the rookie stage, since back then there wasn't a single Champion level Digimon alive," Gatomon said grimly. "They somehow reprogrammed their data and accelerated their own digivolution progress and managed to digivolve all the way to the Ultimate level."

"The Digimon couldn't do anything against the Ultimates, they were only in-training, maybe rookies if they were lucky. The whole Digital World was at their mercy," Patamon continued.

"This continued for years, and nearly all of the Digital World was enslaved by the Ultimates. Thankfully, seven brave Digimon stood against them, their names were lost in time, but their descriptions were documented, a blue dragon, white tiger, orange bat, red bird, yellow armadillo, blue wizard, and a green caterpillar. The legend states that the Digimon used strange eggs to digivolve themselves and fought an all-out war against the evil Digimon," Gatomon picked up where Patamon left off. "The leaders of the two armies were the blue dragon and NeoDevimon - the Ultimate form of Devimon – respectively." TK clenched his fists in pure rage, even since the beginning Devimon still caused havoc and was pure evil, though the blond managed to control his anger.

"The war was slowly going in the NeoDevimon's favor and in a desperate attempt to win, all other Digimon that were the same species as the blue dragon, red bird, green caterpillar, yellow armadillo, white tiger, blue wizard, and orange hamster gave up their data to the armor Digimon, boosting their strength but also putting their lives in the armor Digimon. If you let a Digimon as the same species as you absorb your data freely, they will get a huge power boost, however, if they die, so do you. Anyhow, even with the extra power, the armor Digimon couldn't beat all the Ultimates. The legends say in one final attempt to win the war, the armor Digimon used a forbidden technique, according to the ancient texts, the armor Digimon accessed power from their very data, not their normal power, but power from their very composition, very _existence. _Their Digi-Cores, which their code is embedded in, basically the human equivalent of their souls. And they used all of it. They managed to annihilate all the Ultimates, but at a high cost. The armor Digimon lost their lives in the battle and could not be reborn including all the Digimon that gave them their data," Gatomon finished.

"H-How does a Digimon access power from their digi-cores?" TK asked, he wanted to make sure Patamon never tried to do it, he already lost him once, even if it was for only a couple days. He didn't think he could survive losing him _permanently._

Patamon shook his head, "Nobody knows, some believe that it's impossible while others believe the information is locked away somewhere. Many have tried but none have succeeded, at least none that I know of."

"Was that the last the Digital World saw the armor Digimon, at least until now?" Izzy asked, intrigued by the tale.

"Technically yes, but if the blue dragon is Veemon, there's more to the story. You see, back when the dark masters first started their rise in power, way before you guys even came to the Digital World, Piedmon himself hunted down all the Digital World's Veemon and their evolutions. Despite mainly become a combatant and dramon species Digimon, there weren't any Mega levels among the Veemon species, so Piedmon easily defeated them." Gatomon informed. "He somehow managed to stop them from being reborn, nobody knows why he hunted down the Veemon line, but he did, back then everyone thought he killed every last one. After that, no challenged the Dark Masters except Gennai and his order. Armadillomon and Hawkmon went extinct centuries early, but no one knows how. According to some old Digimon, they just disappeared one day."

"Hey, how do you know the blue dragon was Veemon? Besides the fact he can armor digivolve I mean. You said the names were lost in time," Matt questioned.

"They were, but in the ancient temples, there were some carved pictures of the Digimon there. Most of them were destroyed, only the dragon's survived and it looked strikingly similar to Veemon. I didn't make the connection until the armor digivolved though," Gatomon answered.

Tai, finally shaking off his awe in the tale said, "The story is nice and all, but we're getting off track," nodding towards Sora to continue.

"Both Cody and Yolei used their Digi-Eggs to armor digivolve Armadillomon and Hawkmon into Halsemon and Digmon," Sora said as Izzy pulled up the old Digimon analyzer function on his laptop and showed both Digmon and Halsemon so everyone could see the Digimon – Izzy screen shared the skype call so Mimi could see – "These are the new Armor Digimon," the redhead replied.

"We met up with Davis, who already found TK and the Emperor. We were in a rocky area near a ravine, with TK stuck onto the cliffside and the Emperor on the opposite side of the ravine," Sora said. "Davis was hiding behind a boulder so the Emperor wouldn't see him, but that didn't really matter because the Emperor got bored of waiting and threatened to let TK drop to his death if Davis didn't show himself; Davis told us not to do anything until Flamedramon saved TK, no matter how bad it looked before showing himself to the Emperor along with Veemon."

"One weird thing I'd like to point out is that the Digimon Emperor seemed to know Davis, like he had a history with him," Izzy pointed out. Everyone was surprised at that; how would their new enemy have a history with the mysterious DigiDestined? Maybe they clashed before, after all, they didn't know what happened last Davis was in the Digital World, so it was possible. But Davis didn't seem to know the Emperor, so what was that about?

Tai himself was also shocked, his brother in all but blood may have a history with someone like the Emperor, but he never told him or Kari? _'What are you hiding from us, Davis?' _Tai wondered.

"That is weird, Izzy. What do you think could have happened between them?" Mimi asked.

"I don't know, we don't have enough information to conduct a hypothesis yet. We'll get back to that later once we do though, but going back to what Sora said, after Davis came out the Emperor threatened to let TK drop to his demise if Davis didn't throw his digivice to the Emperor," Izzy continued. Matt tensed once again, he knew his brother could take care of himself, but that didn't mean he couldn't be worried about him, especially when Patamon couldn't digivolve and he was at the mercy of the enemy. He had to remind himself his brother was right here, safe, and not in danger of death.

"Davis did throw his digivice, well technically he didn't, you'll understand in a minute. The 'digivice' landed a few feet away from the Emperor. The Emperor then told Davis that if he didn't want TK to fall to his death, he would jump off the cliff, his life for TK's," Izzy grimly stated. Even though he knew Davis was okay, truth be told, he was still frightened at the fact that the Emperor could so easily talk about one's murder so _casually, _and the fact that Davis didn't seem bothered by it also was worrying.

"What?! What the heck is this guy's problem?!" Mimi asked outraged, again. She didn't know much about this Davis kid, but he seemed alright and there was TK, a good friend of hers, and she wasn't going to let someone mess with her friends.

"Everyone calm down, we know this Emperor is bad news, but we're all safe for now. Getting angry won't solve anything," Sora calmly said. This seemed to deflate everyone's angry, mostly, at least enough to the fact that they weren't going to make any outbursts.

"Davis actually did jump, but we didn't do anything. Davis told us not to and we trusted him, and am I glad we did because Davis took out something, his digivice. Apparently, the one he threw down was a fake. He armor digivolved Veemon into Flamedramon who saved TK and Patamon and that was our signal. The new kids' armor Digimon got ready for battle. Flamedramon saved Davis and put him on the other side of the ravine while the Emperor called for reinforcements, more Kuwagamon and Snimon as well as a Drimogemon," Sora took up where Izzy left off.

"Why would Flamedramon put Davis on the Emperor's side of the ravine?" questioned Joe.

"Because Davis wanted to fight the Emperor, no not like Digimon vs Digimon I mean hand to hand combat," Izzy answered.

"Okay, what?! What is this kid made out of? First taking out a Monochromon with a rookie, then a herd with only one Digimon, then a Champion _ninja _Digimon _by himself _and now fighting a psychopath like the Emperor one on one?!" Matt asked, once again losing his cool exterior.

"That's Davis for you," Kari said cheerfully, final seeming calm. TK again tensed, but just as he was about to snap a snarky reply on how he was better, his mind flashed the memory of Kari being mad at him because he got Davis hurt due to his hotheadedness, he stopped.

"The Kuwagamon and Snimon went after Flamedramon and Halsemon while Drimogemon went after Digmon. Unfortunately, we were completely useless because our Digimon couldn't digivolve," Izzy continued, saying the last part grimly. Everyone else also looked down, their friends were in danger and they were completely useless to help them, at least until they figured out how to get rid of the digivolution block.

"Basically, what happened was Halsemon, Digmon, and Flamedramon all beat their opponents and freed them while Davis had the Emperor cornered until his Digimon saved him," Sora continued.

"Wait, _his Digimon?_" Joe asked, fearing the answer.

"Yes, the Digimon Emperor has his own Digimon…" Izzy answered.

"B-But that would mean he's a DigiDestined!" Mimi said.

Izzy just nodded. "Why would a DigiDestined try and enslave the Digital World? Aren't we supposed to protect it?" Matt asked.

"We don't know," Sora glumly replied.

"Back to the story, the Emperor managed to make his partner, Wormmon, digivolve into his Champion form, Stingmon," Izzy said, once again pulling up the Digimon analyzer and showing Wormmon and Stingmon.

"He digivolved? But you said digivolution was blocked!" Mimi explained.

"I did and it is, but it would make sense if the rule didn't apply to the Emperor as he is the one who controls the block," Izzy said. Mimi nodded in understanding.

Kari took over this part, "Stingmon and the Emperor retreated, and we were all okay with letting them go, well _almost all of us_," she started glaring at TK for a second.

Sora quickly interrupted before Kari could lash out, "Basically TK ran after Stingmon, Stingmon stopped and attacked him with an arrow of dark green energy and TK was too scared to move. Davis ran towards him, pushed him to the ground and positioned himself so the arrow didn't hit any of his vital organs, only graze his shoulder."

Kari looked like still wanted to snap at TK but this time he was saved by Izzy, who quickly picked up where Sora left off, "Veemon went to the forest to gather some leaves, according to Davis they were 'healing herbs,' Veemon brought a bunch of red leaves and with the help of Hawkmon and Armadillomon cut the leaves, crushed them, and finally burned them making some kind of lotion. Then Veemon gently rubbed the medicine on the wound until all of it was gone, according to Davis the lotion is supposed to kill most bacteria instantly." By the time he was, Kari, thankfully, didn't seem like she was going tear someone a new whole.

"But how's that possible? Leaves can't just kill bacteria just like that!" Joe explained. Izzy just shrugged, he himself had no idea whatsoever how it was possible. His best guess was just that it was a specialty of the Digital World.

"After that, we came here as fast as we could, the new kids went to their homes on the way," Sora finished their long tale.

Everyone just sat there, letting everything they've heard sink in, even the ones who went to the Digital World today were also letting everything sink in, after all that happened their brains couldn't fully process what they had experienced so far. It seemed like an eternity before someone spoke, "So we're useless in this battle?" Mimi asked, depressed.

"That seems to be the case, until we can bypass the digivolution blocks ourselves," Izzy said. Any last lingering hope that they might be able to do anything to help burned away instantly when he said that. They couldn't do anything, if they tried, they would just get in the way and be used as hostages like how Davis nearly had to give his life because TK got captured and was at the mercy of the Emperor.

"But that doesn't mean we can't help from the outside; we can give the new kids advice while working on a way to stop the block!" Sora said, trying to look at the positives. It worked a little as everyone lit up the tiniest bit at that.

"Before we move on, I have an announcement to make," Tai said, taking over the conversation again. Everyone perked up that, wondering what their leader had in mind.

"Four years ago, when we were in the Digital World I was chosen as the leader, correct? We all had a say in what we were going to do but, in the end, I had the final say, correct?" the goggle head said. Everyone nodded at that, still wondering what he had in mind.

"In different circumstances I would take the position as the leader in a heartbeat, but not this time, let's face it I'm not really cut out for leader this time," he held up his hand to stop any outbursts or protests.

"It's not like I'm a worse leader than before, it's just that I _can't _be the leader this time. Not only am I useless in battle if Agumon can't digivolve, I also can't even help in the background because my strategic mind isn't the best, we leave that to Izzy. On top of all that, I can't even leave school without my grades falling because of the time synchronization," Tai explained.

Silence fell on the group as the pondered his words, Tai was right, they hoped that even though they were practically useless, Tai would figure something out so they could go to the front lines, but he himself just said he couldn't do anything and that he can't be the leader this time.

"So, since the Digital World practically threw us aside and picked new kids to save it this time, it only makes sense that they're our main force of attack and one of them leads us," Tai said.

Everyone hesitantly nodded, it made sense that they pick one of the younger kids, they were picked by the Digital World itself and were younger, so they had fewer responsibilities, so they had more free time.

"So, I'm guessing you have a choice since you brought this up?" Matt asked, still not liking the idea of Tai not being the leader.

Tai smiled at how easily his friend could read him, Crest of Friendship indeed. "Yes, I do," confirming his friend's suspicions. "If it was all up to me, Davis would've been the leader ten years ago. No, wait here me out!" Tai said the last part quickly to avoid getting interrupted.

A couple of his friends reluctantly closed their mouths to hear him out, TK included. But Tai noticed there was something in his eyes, something he didn't like, it seemed like _hesitance, anger, and disbelief. _Disbelief and anger at the fact Davis was going to be the leader. He didn't know where it came from, but decided it was just the light playing tricks on his eyes.

"So why Davis? Well, for starters, he's been to the Digital World before and we can presume he knows how to take care of himself. I believe that needs to be a requirement for the position of leader, we're not going let the new kids that are completely inexperienced take charge, that would be dumb. So that leaves TK, Kari, and Davis for the role as the leader," Tai started off. "Starting off with TK, no offense to you buddy, but you're just not the leader type, you're too soft and crumble under pressure so you wouldn't be able to make important split-second decisions as well as the fact you can't make stuff on the spot if something goes wrong. You wouldn't make a good leader in the case, at least not against someone like the Emperor."

Everyone could understand that, including TK, he just wasn't the right person for the job. He was disappointed that he couldn't be leader, his last adventure he was eight years old, the youngest – not including Kari, who was only present the last few weeks of said adventure – and so he couldn't do much; but now he was twelve, a year older than what Matt and Tai had been when they first went to the Digital World, so he hoped he could do more this time around, like being leader, but that didn't seem to be the case.

He didn't refute anything Tai said though, all of it made sense and he just flat out got told he would be a horrible leader in these circumstances, at least he could be in the main attack force since he was one of the younger kids. Oh, the irony, this time it's the younger kids being the main attack force and shielding the older ones, instead of the other way around.

"And Kari has mostly the same problems, sorry sis, but you're once again too soft and can't make split-second decisions, you're more of a follower than a leader," Tai said as Kari nodded, she was not at offended that she was ruled out as leader, in fact, she was relieved. She knew she didn't have what it takes to be a leader, Tai was right, she was a follower, not a leader.

"So, once again we're back to Davis, from what we've seen, or heard, he knows how to take care of himself, he puts other's safety in front of his, and he's also one of the three DigiDestined that have Digimon that can digivolve. Heck, he might as well have been the leader when you guys went to save TK, he took charge without hesitation and showed he knows how to think on his feet," Tai said, but then suddenly became aware that the group was looking at something behind him at the end of his speech. Well, some_one_, not something.

"So, you want me to become the new 'leader' of your group?" a very familiar voice spoke up behind Tai.

Tai jumped back and saw Davis leaning against the kitchen wall, square goggles around his neck, and looking straight at him in the eye, straight into his soul. For a moment no one said anything, they all looked at Davis, no knowing what to say. Kari had half a mind to tell him off for walking around while still injured but decided against it, she knew he wouldn't sit down – heck, even managing to make him sit still long enough for someone to look at the wound was a miracle in its own, besides he seemed to be okay, no longer looking pale.

"AHH!"

The intense moment was comically broken by a child-like scream heard back in the living room. DemiVeemon fell off the sofa to the floor, headfirst in the floor… He got up and dusted himself and muttered something around the lines of, "Guess I'll have to add the force of gravity to my list of enemies."

Davis shook his head good-naturedly and went off to retrieve his small blue friend. Moments later, Davis returned with DemiVeemon on top his head, smiling lazily and gave a small wave to the group.

Seeing that none of the 'older group' would speak up, Davis decided to speak up instead, "Tell me Tai, is this how your group decided who was going to be the leader? Talking it over the table? Because, I don't know about you, but in my group, one of us just became the leading figure, it was a natural choice, he always took charge and led us to victory," Davis said.

He neglected to mention the fact that it was_ he_ who was the leader back in his first adventure. He didn't want them to get any ideas – not that he didn't want to be the leader, he would within a heartbeat if it meant survival. But he wanted them to understand that this wasn't the way a leader was chosen, he would rather become the leader naturally as he had done in his last adventure, rather than being chosen over the table; this way there would be less of a chance of the group disregarding his orders, if he did it naturally, they would trust him more; he needed them to understand that.

The group stood in silence as Davis' words sunk in, he was right; they hadn't discussed who was the leader, Tai naturally just was, he took charge when they needed him the most. Sure, he was officially the leader when the charged Myotismon's castle, but by then he was the leader for months already.

"I can understand your view Davis, but if you ask me, the fact that you understand that makes you all the more suitable for the position as leader," Matt voiced his opinion. His earlier anger at the maroon haired boy had vanished as soon as his rational mind managed to beat his brotherly instincts, he understood it wasn't Davis' fault TK got captured, actually he was already starting to like this kid. Not only did he save his brother's life, but he did it twice. He didn't even hesitate to do it at the danger of his own life. Not only that, he seemed cool, calm, and collected. Plus he didn't seem like a complete moron.

Sora quickly agreed, she had known Davis nearly as long as Tai and Kari had and he was like a brother to her; she knew just like Tai, Davis was a natural-born leader.

"If it comes done to it, and you guys trust my judgment, I won't argue. But for now, we have other manners to discuss, like a course of action," Davis relented.

Before any more words could be exchanged, Izzy asked a question he'd been meaning to since the Ninjamon fight, "Davis, what was that purple stick thing you used against the Ninjamon?"

"Oh, that? That was a branch from a special tree – I like to call it the 'Zoid Trees' – the branches on them are normal at first, but if you snap them off and break them off the connection to the main trunk, they instantly get as sharp and as hard as iron," Davis answered.

"Wait what, really?!" Mimi asked.

Davis nodded, "Yeah, they're very useful and can get you out of a pinch easily."

"Hold on a sec, if they get as hard _and _sharp as iron, how'd you manage to hold one without cutting yourself?" Izzy asked, thinking back to when Davis fought Ninjamon.

"Well that's actually pretty simple, really," Davis said. "When you snap off a branch, around five inches, starting from the side where the branch was connected to the trunk, stay the same, making a good handle. The rest instantly harden, but if you use it right, you get a pretty sweet sword."

Before he could say anymore, Joe also asked the question he'd been meaning to ask since Izzy had told them how Davis healed his wound, "Hey Davis, Izzy said that you used some leaves to heal your wound, how'd you managed that?" Everyone also perked up at that, that small fact had slipped their minds after hearing Tai's speech.

Davis just looked at them dumb folded, "Umm… It's the Digital World, those were special healing leaves, ones that kill bacteria and speed up the natural healing process of the body," he said as if it was the most normal thing in the world, but then again it was _normal _for the _Digital World_.

"But can you use those in the real world?" Joe asked excitedly. He's been studying to be a doctor for years now and knew how hard it was to make some medicine and vaccines, but if there were leaves that could kill bacteria in the Digital World, there was a chance there may be leaves or other biological organisms that could serve as medicine. And if those could be brought to the real world, they could enhance humanity's understanding of health and evolve medicine beyond their wildest dreams, saving countless lives.

But unfortunately, Davis shook his head, "I doubt it, since the leaves were made in the Digital World, they're made out of data and in the human world we can't use them," Davis said regretfully.

Izzy nodded his head in understanding, "Makes sense, they are just made out of data, after all," he said.

"What do you mean _just out of data?" _Davis said, a bit too crossly. Kari, Tai, and Sora were mildly surprised in the harshness in Davis' voice, few things could ever make Davis actually mad but for some reason it was happening more often now, did it have anything to do with the Digital World being re-opened?

Izzy definitely picked up the harshness in his voice and quickly tried to explain himself, "I'm just saying that the Digital World is made out of data so it would be physically impossible for the leaves to able retain a form in the real world."

"Real World? You do know the Digital World is also real, right?" Davis asked, saying the last word almost desperately

"Of course, we do!" Matt answered, Davis breathed a sigh of relief – he didn't know what he'd do if these guys thought the Digital World wasn't real – but Matt continued, "Izzy's just saying that the Digital World is just made out data, that's all."

Okay so maybe they didn't know it was real, at least they didn't know the full extent of it. They probably thought it the Digital World was in the computer, or something, not a planet of its own… Davis sighed again, apparently fate wasn't content with making him the leader again, he would also have to be the 'teacher' as well, great, _just great._

"And we're made out of atoms," Davis challenged, starting off his lesson.

The group looked at him dumb folded, not understanding what he was trying to say.

'_Seriously?! These guys are slower than Ken was! And he was six at the time! Argh… Guess I'll have to push harder' _the maroon thought.

"The Digital World is made out data and we're made out of atoms so why are we considered the _real world?_" he asked

Finally, the group seemed to understand as they each wore thoughtful expressions.

'_Now, who's going to be brave enough to question me? Tai? Probably, he'd say something along the lines of data isn't real or something like that' _the maroon thought smugly, but his facial expression was neutral and showed absolutely no signs of smugness.

To his surprise, it _wasn't _Tai who challenged him, instead, it was Matt.

"B-But the Digital World is made out of data, I mean I know it's real, but it's still made out of data, and so weird, so impossible, making our work…" Matt trailed off.

"The real world?" Davis supplied.

"Yes!" said the Ishida

"Okay, so our world is the 'real world' because logic makes sense here, according to our standards, and because it's made out of data instead of atoms?" Davis asked. The group was shocked at the way he put it, they never thought about it that way. They just naturally called Earth, 'the real world' because the Digital World was made out of data and everything seemed so _supernatural _to them. They never actually comprehended the fact it was _real, _that it _existed._

"The Digital World is just as real as our own, just because it doesn't follow the rules of physics according to _our standards, _doesn't mean it's any less real than our world. The Digital World is its own planet, somewhere out there," Davis explained, waving his hands in the air to demonstrate.

"But how could it survive 'out there?' You said that the leaf couldn't be used here, because it's made out of data, so how could it survive 'out there'?" Izzy asked.

"Just because it can't survive in this universe, doesn't mean it can't survive in a different one, one may be where everything made out of data instead of atoms," Davis said.

"Wait you're saying there's an entire _universe _made out of data?!" Tai asked astonished.

"B-But that should be impossible!" Izzy explained.

Once again Davis sighed. It seemed like if he didn't want to be stuck here for the rest of his life, he'd have to spell it out for them. "The Digital World exists, I mean not like on a computer drive or something, but as its own planet, in space, in a different universe. A universe made of data opposed to atoms. The reason the Digital World can exist in space and the leaves can't here is because the Digital World resides in a separate plane of space than Earth, where our laws are negated. If we tried to go to the Digital World normally, let's just pretend we could use a rocket and fly there, we would either die, suffocate or something else would happen," Davis explained. "The reason being we would enter a space where atoms are replaced by data, and we're still made out of atoms. It's impossible to guess the side effects. However, when we use a gate to travel there, our digivices convert the atomic structure of our bodies into bits of data, 0's and 1's, then the gate opens a dimensional wormhole straight to the Digital World and we get sucked in. Any remain traces of us disappear instantly. And it happens vice-versa when we come back, the digivices change our digital composition back to the original atomic structure before opening the wormhole again and sucking us in once more."

"So that's how it works…" Izzy muttered, he knew, well _guessed _they had been turned into data during their first adventure, back when they were fighting Etemon, but back then he thought they were mere copies of their original bodies, that proved to be wrong now.

"Then how come the Digimon stay in the re- human world? I mean when we beat Digimon here, they turned back into data, so we know they didn't turn into atoms when they came here," Mimi asked over the call.

"I don't know actually, before today I never saw a Digimon stay here longer than an hour or two. My guess would be that since that our world _does _have data all around it, even if everything isn't made out of it, it can still support them and their lives, that would also explain why the new Digimon de-digivolved into their in-training forms the second they reached the real world, they're most likely weaker here because everything isn't made out of data," Davis theorized. "Its kind of like the data is a requirement for them, they need it to live, and they have plenty in the Digital World but not here, so they're weaker. It probably strains them not being in their natural environment. It would be like putting a camel on a mountain."

"Wait so if they stay for a long period of time, they could get hurt?" Sora asked, she was afraid she might have hurt Biyomon because she was forced to stay in the human world for days during Myotismon's invasion.

Thankfully Davis shook his head, "No, I don't believe so. Gatomon, Patamon, nor DemiVeemon have rapidly de-digivolved or suddenly turned into digi-eggs so I assume it's fine. The only side effect would most likely be them being weaker than they would be in the Digital World, home field territory and whatnot," Davis said.

"But that's enough of that, we're seriously getting off track, we have other matters to discuss," Davis said, looking at Izzy, who understood what he meant.

"The Emperor seems to be a kid just like us, he looks to be around the age of Davis, TK, and Kari. As I've said before, he uses his dark rings to control Digimon – kind of like the Devimon's black gears now that I think about it – and uses his dark digivice to block digivolution. He also has his own partner that can at least go to the Champion level, giving him an edge over us. Though the digivolution block can be bypassed by armor digivolution, using the Digi-Eggs of Courage, Knowledge, and Love respectively," Izzy stated.

"Does that mean there are digi-eggs for all our crests?" TK asked, wondering what a Digi-Egg of Hope would look like.

'_So, they do all have crests,' _Davis clarified mentally, before another thought hit him. There were eleven crests, so that meant eleven eggs, three have been discovered and been given to the new chosen. So that meant a possibility of eight more children being robbed of their childhoods.

Davis unconsciously clenched his fists in anger, that would add up to twenty children losing their childhoods. When he got his hands on that stupid dragon… He took some comfort in knowing that only three digivices came out of the computer, not eight, so there's still a chance more kids wouldn't be chosen.

He snapped out of his thoughts when Izzy replied, "Yes, that would make the most sense. By the way Davis, when the Emperor was talking to you, he seemed as if he knew you, do you two have a history or something; at least do you know who he is or have an idea?"

Images of a young dark blue-haired boy with a similar hairstyle to Kari's through Davis' mind. "I have absolutely no clue," Davis lied.

"So, there's a chance that there are more kids out there?" Kari asked the same question that went through Davis' head moments earlier.

"Yes," Izzy simply said.

"Let's not worry about that for now, even if we did know who the new kids were – if there even are more kids – we don't know where the eggs are. We should focus on what we're going to do now. We may have three Digimon that can digivolve, but we haven't seen much of what the Emperor can do it. There are still too many cards not played yet, and we can't rule out the fact the possibility he holds triple aces," Davis said.

Everyone nodded, they could worry about the eggs later, they still needed to figure out how they were going to go beat the Emperor.

"We know that the Emperor can control Champion level Digimon, but what about Ultimates and above? Heck, where are the Ultimate level Digimon? If Champion level Digimon are the best the Emperor has at his disposal, a few Ultimates should have been able to crush his reign already," Davis said. "So why haven't they? Especially since the dark rings can get fried by a Champion level attack."

This time it was Gatomon who answered, "To be honest, ever since the Emperor came, all of the Ultimate level Digimon just _disappeared, _no one knows where they went. There have been some rumors going around the Digimon Camp, some say the Emperor captured them and is saving them for those who oppose him, others say the ran and hid, but no one knows for sure. And for the Megas, ever since the Digital World reformatted, there has been no sight of one appearing yet in the past two years."

'_DIGITAL WOLRD BEING REFORAMMTED?!' _Davis thought, he'd have to look on that.

"Wait, Digimon Camp? What's that?" Kari asked her partner.

"When Flamedramon took us to a cave to stay for the night yesterday, a couple Digimon came there for protection, including Biyomon and Tentomon," Gatomon answered. "Flamedramon protected us all and made sure none of us got captured by the dark rings, it's almost a small cave-village now, it has become a salvation from the Emperor,"

'_That actually might be useful in the future,' _Davis thought. He knew power wasn't everything, sometimes victory was with numbers instead.

"So, we still don't know where the Ultimate Digimon are," Davis sighed, he could have really used some of his old allies' help in this _adventure._ Especially without Ryo and Ken to help him this time.

"Unfortunately," Gatomon answered regretfully, she – like Davis – also had friends that could've helped if they suddenly didn't disappear.

"So right now, all we can do is just free as many Digimon as we can and look for more digi-eggs," Davis summed up.

"At least until we can get more information, that is all we can do," Izzy replied.

"Then it is decided! Some of us older kids will go with the new ones to try and find more eggs as well as finding more information," Tai said. "This reminds me of my grandmother's Easter egg hunt," he muttered the last part.

"So, which one of us will go?" Sora asked.

Instantly Tai raised his hand, but he was the only one.

"I have a huge test tomorrow," Joe said regretfully, as much as he wanted to see his partner, he needed to pass this test if he wanted to get into the school.

"I've got a rehearsal, our big concert's only a few days away and we need to practice," Matt muttered.

"I'm the new captain of the tennis team and I tryouts are tomorrow so I need chose the new team," Sora said sadly.

"And I got a request from a huge programming company to take a test and if I pass, I'll be hired as a part-time worker," Izzy said with a half-smile, he was proud he got the invitation, but he was sad he couldn't join the others. At least he knew Tentomon was okay, for the time being.

Tai sighed, what happened to the good old days when they were all a team? Well, they still were but they rarely ever got together just to hang out or kick some evil Digimon butt. Life really has gotten in the way for them.

"It's okay, we should be able to handle everything the Emperor throws at us," Tai said. They all nodded; the old group might not be able to help tomorrow but there was always next time.

Seeing the meeting was over, everyone got ready to leave. Mimi cut her skype call and Izzy retrieved his laptop, already starting to document everything they learned so far. TK decided that he was going to stay at Matt's for the night as it was late, over half-past nine actually. The meeting had gone for three hours, and they hadn't noticed it at all. After deciding how they would stay in contact, the DigiDestined all went their separate ways.

Tai, Kari, Davis and their Digimon all headed for their apartment building. It was late, already nine o' clock, the meeting lasted nearly three hours and they had to hurry home, so they didn't worry their parents. They all lived in the same building, so it was natural they were walking together, but none of them said anything, as they were each lost in their own thoughts.

'_Agumon, will you be okay?'_

'_Davis, what are you hiding? ' _

'_Ken, was that really you?' _

_**-TIbD- **_

Yolei laid in her bed in her room, her thoughts preventing her from sleeping. Her Digimon was cuddled next to her, sound asleep. This morning she'd been so excited to go to the digital world, but now all that excitement was gone. She'd been foolish, thinking it was just going to be a fun trip and no one would get hurt.

Even after Ninjamon attacked Davis she tried reasoning that Davis actually did _not _get _hurt _and it was only a fluke, everything was peaceful there, right? The 'original' eight DigiDestined gave up the powers of their Crests to bring peace there, so it must have been a fluke.

They would beat the Digimon Emperor easily, after all, they had the original eight DigiDestined on their side. Then they could go to daily picnics in the Digital World, and goof off, is what she thought when they first reached the parallel world.

But then TK got captured, Davis nearly dropped to his death and then got the gash on his shoulder. She didn't want this, she never wanted this. All she wanted was to have some fun in the Digital World, not for one of her friends to get hurt. She didn't want to be a DigiDestined if it meant watching her friends get hurt.

She wished she could bail out now, but she had this accursed digivice, marking her as a DigiDestined, it was her job to protect the Digital World. But could she really do it? That was the last thought before sleep had claimed her.

_**-TIbD- **_

Like Yolei, Cody was also laying in his bed, lost in his thoughts. His partner was also cuddled next to him and peacefully asleep.

Unlike the energetic purple-haired girl, Cody on the outside didn't show much excitement in going to the digital realm. Of course, that was on the outside, inside he was just as, if not more, excited as Yolei, but he was also cautious. After all, caution was always a precaution.

Being exposed to the world's horrors at a young age, courtesy of his father's early death, Cody was always cautious. He knew never to let his guard down and he almost never did, _almost. _

He knew that someone could get hurt during their adventure, but never voiced his opinion in fear of being rejected and/or being told he was too young to understand things. But after Digmon showed up, he got overconfident, became arrogant, all on the inside, of course, he rarely showed his emotions on the outside.

Davis _did _get hurt, what's worse is that he seemed like he knew it was going to happen. Most of the others probably didn't notice, but Cody did. Davis seemed to be expecting something like that to happen, with the way he was acting tense and seemed to be on the verge of snapping, it showed he knew no one was getting out unscathed.

Today just showed this was no game, it was real. Their wounds from the Digital World transfer when they come back to the Digital World so it would be hard to hide if they got larger wounds. And just because he had a partner didn't mean he was invincible, today's battle showed that.

But he couldn't bail out, he had a digivice, it was his responsibility to protect the Digital World, but he didn't think he could do it. He was nine for god's sake!

"_I have to son, it's my responsibility to help those people." _

Cody remembered those words, it was one of those days when his father had to go to help stop a robbery, even though it was his day off. Cody asked his father why he always had to go, and that was the response he got.

Cody made up his mind, whether he liked it or not, it was his _responsibility _to save the Digital World, and he would live up to it and make his father proud. That was the last thought the young Hida had before sleep claimed him.

_**-TIbD- **_

Davis, like the other two, was lying in bed, thoughts preventing sleep to claim him. This time, however, his partner was also awake. This adventure would be more complicated than the last one due to many variables.

Firstly, the space-time continuum, since time was synchronized between the two worlds, they couldn't just spend months in the Digital World, take out the Emperor, and come back in time for dinner. They would have only a couple hours a day to spare to go to the Digital World and thwart the Emperor's plans.

Secondly, there was the fact that their enemy was human, because of this they would have to take a different approach on the matter. They couldn't just kill him, that would be _murder! _Of course, Davis was going to ignore the small fact he _had _killed before, Digimon not humans – but humans couldn't be reborn like Digimon!

Thirdly, there was the new Chosen Children – well _DigiDestined _as they called themselves – to consider. He would be working with a new group, consisting of many inexperienced morons and two newbies. He wouldn't be working with Ryo and/or Ken this time, so basically, he might as well be doing this entire journey by himself.

The new kids seemed to think the Digital World was just sunshine and daisies while the old ones are actually _useless! _Heck, Davis could probably beat the Emperor by himself _faster _than if he would have to work with these morons! But he couldn't, they had digivices and Digimon and if they tired neglecting their responsibilities, the Digital World _would _find a way to bring them back and force them to save their hides. He also couldn't ditch them because the second they got out of his sight; they would die. Simple as that.

Then there was his partner, Veemon. How was he even alive?! Don't get me wrong, Davis was thrilled his partner was back, but that defied all logic itself. UlforceVeedramon used all of his power, _including _his digi-core to wipe out Millenniummon, and had zero chance of being reborn, the Sovereigns and Elecmon said it themselves! For him to be here was a miracle in itself, but Davis would have to be on the lookout. A Digimon surviving even after using all of its digi-core was unheard of, there was no guess what side effects it may have.

Lastly, there was Ken, was he really th- "Davis? Do you really think Ken is the Emperor?" Speak of the little blue chocolate-eating devil.

"I don't know, Vee. He looks kind of like him, with the hair color and all," Davis said. "Actually, now that I think about it, he looks like his older brother, Sam."

"But what if it is! Why would he turn all bad and stuff, is it our fault, were we bad friends?" DemiVeemon asked, his eyes already watering.

"I don't know Vee, I'm not going to lie, it might have been our fault and it might be Ken. But if Ken really is the Emperor, we can't hold back just because he was our friend, the Emperor is still hunting and enslaving innocent Digimon and it's our responsibility to save them," Davis replied.

DemiVeemon nodded. Ken might have been their friend at one point, but it has been years since they last saw him and time changes things. If it came down to it, and the Emperor really was Ken, they would try and fight him. Didn't mean they had to like it though. Davis and DemiVeemon closed their eyes, trying to get some sleep. One was successful, one was not.

_**-TIbD- **_

The last bell rang, signaling the end of school. TK, Kari, and Davis were walking towards the computer lab, where their Digimon were waiting. This morning they decided it would be best to leave them in the lab, so no one saw them as there weren't any meetings for the computer club today. The three of them were walking together as they were in the same grade.

Even twenty feet away from the lab, Davis could feel his partner's presence as well as the other Digimon's. Naturally, DemiVeemon was the strongest presence he felt, showing their bond and his partner's strength. Finally, they reached the lab and entered.

"DAVISH!" DemiVeemon yelled as he ran towards his partner, soon followed by the rest of the Digimon.

"Where's Yolei?" Poromon asked.

"And Cody!" Upamon added excitedly.

"Don't worry, they'll be here soon," Kari reassured.

Davis could feel a presence coming towards the door - his senses have been rapidly improving since the gate had reopened - he felt a lot of love and warmthcoming from this presence, it was Yolei.

"There's Yolei now," Davis said moments before the door opened, revealing the familiar purple-haired girl. She was carrying a plastic bag seemed to be out of breath.

"Sorry I'm late. I brought this from my family's store," she said, laying down the bag in front of the Digimon. But when she looked at them there was the slightest flicker of fear in her eyes, though only Davis saw it.

"Good thinking, In-Training Digimon are bottomless pits," TK said, smiling at the Digimon.

"Can we eat it?" Upamon asked looking at the bag curiously.

"Sure, you can, watch me," Patamon said as he took out a juice packet and started drinking it.

Soon the rest of the Digimon – excluding Gatomon – picked something from the plastic bag and started eating, with Poromon taking something spicy and thus flying around like crazy.

But Davis ignored all this, his attention was focused on Yolei, he could practically feel the hesitation coming from her. Yesterday's battle must've scarred and frightened her more than he originally thought; he would have to sort this out or it could lead to something disastrous happening.

He already had enough of crybabies entering the Digital World and nearly getting themselves killed, – thanks Ken for that by the way – it sounded harsh, but it was the truth. Can't stand the Digital World, then get out of the digital dimension. Except they can't because they're chosen children, so their only option was to GROW UP and deal with it.

Before he could pull Yolei aside though, TK spoke up, "Hey, where's Cody?"

"Last I checked, he was still finishing her lunch," Kari answered.

_**-TIbD- **_

"J-Just one more bite," Cody said as he was sitting in an empty cafeteria, trying to slice a small tomato.

"Cody, you don't have to eat everything, you know," the lunch lady said.

"My father always said you should never throw away food unless it smells bad before he passed away," Cody replied.

"Oh, I see," the lady answered back.

If Cody was honest, the tomato wasn't the only reason he didn't get up yet. He was trying to delay the Digital World as much as he could, he was scared to go back there. But he knew he would have to go back eventually, but that didn't mean he couldn't delay it as much as possible.

_**-TIbD- **_

"Hey Yolei, can I talk to you outside for a moment, alone?" Davis asked. The others seemed surprised by the question, especially Kari and Yolei. Davis never really talked to many people, sure he was loud and liked to have fun, but that was in groups; talking to someone alone, that was nearly almost unheard of.

Yolei was also surprised and confused as to why Davis would want to talk to her, they never really conversed much as they were in different grades and didn't share common interests, so they didn't have any after school clubs either. Still, she hesitantly nodded, and they walked out.

_**-TIbD- **_

"You're scared, aren't you?" Davis asked after closing the door. Yolei was surprised by the question, this was not at all what she expected when she accepted to talk to Davis.

"You're scared to go back to the Digital World, right?" Davis asked again, leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.

"What do you know?" Yolei snapped back, she hated when others saw her weak side, it made her look helpless.

"I was too you know, on my first trip to the Digital World, all I wanted to do was go home," Davis said, not even flinching at the Yolei's harsh tone, "But instead I was stuck and had to fight for my life."

"We're all scared of something at one point in our lives, but how we handle that fear shows us who we really are," Davis continued, "You can let the fear rule you and cry, or you can rule your fear and do what you have to do to protect your loved ones." For a split second, Davis looked older and wiser beyond his years. With that said, Davis re-entered the computer lab without even waiting for a response.

Yolei just stood shocked, this had gone completely against what she thought she knew of the goggle headed boy. Davis and Yolei never had met or conversed much before this year, but Yolei heard some rumors about Davis, he even got a nickname, the _Sleeping Genius. _

According to the stories, the maroon haired boy slept through nearly all of his classes yet somehow managed to pass them with a B+ or higher. Of course, he wasn't a real genius, but that was for the name's sake. There were many people in Davis' grade level, sometimes even in higher ones, who tried to befriend him for his academic record and skills.

However, Yolei wasn't one of them, she thought – if the rumors were correct – Davis was just a lazy lucky jerk. Of course, the only way someone would be able to pass their courses when they were sleeping through their lessons was if they were the luckiest human alive or they cheated.

Yolei preferred the latter, it seemed to make the most sense, the rumors have been going around for a couple years, and _no one _had the luck to pass classes by pure dumb luck for _years! _Besides, he didn't seem to have many friends, probably because he cheated in school and was a jerk; that was Yolei's opinion of Davis before, but now, now it seemed to be changing. Especially with the brief conversation they just had.

Realizing she'd been standing there for a while now, Yolei physically shook her head and re-entered the computer lab.

_**-TIbD- **_

"Hey, let's see what's on TV while we're waiting for the others," TK suggested, back to his cheerful self.

"Yeah, let's see what's on," Kari agreed. Yolei nodded and turned on one of the computers and checked the news.

On the screen they could see the reporter, "We interrupt this broadcast to bring you this latest story, the result of the national genius invention awards were just announced and the first-place winner is boy genius, Ken Ichijouji!"

"K-Ken?!" Davis whispered to himself in shock, Kari heard him and gave him a quick glance but refocused her attention to the monitor when it flashed to show a dark blue-haired teenager looking at a computer before he turned around to face the camera.

"There were many well-deserving geniuses out there and I am humbled to think that judges chose me to receive the top prize," the blue-haired boy replied with a charming smile.

"Now let's go live to the contest with our field reporter, Jerry Rivera, take it away Jerry," the reporter said. Just then Davis could feel another presence making their way towards the lab, this one seemed to be filled with curiosity and wisdom, it was Cody. Moments later, the door to the lab slid open to reveal the brown-haired boy, Davis spared a glance at the small boy before looking back at the computer.

The screen once again changed to show a middle-aged man with glasses, "Thanks Rosy. Young Ken's work was more advanced than anything I'd ever seen before in his age group," the man said. "I'm sure he will continue his work and excel in life and academics. I can't wait to see what else he has planned, but now back to you."

The screen switched to a room filled with people and with chessboards, with Ken moving a piece and delivering check-mate to his opponent, "Ken's talents include playing – and winning – twenty games of chess simultaneously. Just last week he balanced the world's largest checkbook in under thirty minutes! And that's not all, he's a champion in judo, has a black belt in karate and is the captain on the all-state soccer team!" the reporter explained, with the screen changing every time she stated one of the blue-haired boy's achievements.

'_Is this what you've been up to all this time, Ken?' _Davis thought.

Once more the screen flashed to show the reporter, but this time there was a happy couple behind her, "Now let's talk to the proud parents who raised this genius, Mr. and Mrs. Ichijouji!" The reporter faced Mrs. Ichijouji, "What are some of the advantages of being the mother of one of the brilliant children in the world?" she asked before giving the microphone to the mother.

"Oh, it's amazing! He makes his own electronics, so we don't have to buy them!" Mrs. Ichijouji explained. The reporter moved the microphone in front of the father.

"Like father, like son. I once guessed how many pickles were in a jar," Mr. Ichijouji said scratching the back of his head in embarrassment, or was it pride?

"I heard this kid was so smart he gave his teachers homework," Cody said, speaking for the first time since entering the lab.

"Cody, when did you get here?" Kari asked.

"About a minute ago," Cody replied.

"Hey, maybe Ken knows how to defeat the Digimon Emperor," TK suggested.

"Hmph! I know more about the Digital World than that kid!" Yolei huffed, turning off the monitor.

'_No… No, you don't…' _Davis thought.

"Besides, Ken probably doesn't know about the Digital World, how'd he help us anyway?" Davis asked, technically not lying as he said _probably,_ not definitely.

"Oh right," TK said glumly.

"Anyways let's go!" Yolei said, taking Davis words to heart. She was not going to let her fear rule her, she was going to rule _it! _At least for the time being.

"Hold it. We still have to wait for Tai," Davis said blocking Yolei. Out of the corner of his eye, Davis saw Cody relax a little, his shoulders moving barely a centimeter down.

But suddenly Cody perked up and looked at him, "Wait, Davis, you're going with us? Is it OK for you to come with us, I mean aren't you still hurt from yesterday?"

"Huh? Oh me, don't worry, I'll be fine. Those herbs do more than just heal the wound, they accelerate the healing process as well and besides I already got a doctor-in-training to check it out, it's fine!" Davis replied.

Kari sighed, she knew Davis was going with them, but that didn't mean she had to like it. He might have tried to cover it, but she could tell his arm was still sore at the very least. Unfortunately, Kari doubted she could change his mind, heck even managing to keep him still enough to get the cut checked was a miracle in itself self. She'd just have to hope they didn't run into any strong Digimon or the Emperor today. And with that, Kari just challenged the gods of irony.

Davis was actually touched that the nine-year-old was worried about him despite the fact they had only met two days ago, but he shook his thoughts when he remembered that he still had to pull him aside. However, before he could do so, Davis felt a strong presence strolling towards the lab, this one was stronger than the previous two and was filled with courage and determination. It was Tai.

The lab door opened once more to reveal the brown-haired teenager, "Sorry I'm late, got caught up something," Tai said.

Davis rolled his eyes, "Whatever, doesn't matter now since we're all here, let's get going." Davis took out his digivice, signaling the others to do so as well, he pointed his at the monitor, but before he said the words, he spared a glance at Cody and was surprised at what he saw; instead of fear, he saw determination. A small smile tugged upon his lips, at least there was someone competent on this "team."

"Digi-Port OPEN!" Davis yelled as the computer lab was enveloped in a light blue light.

_**-TIbD-**_

The door to the Ichijouji residence opened as Ken walked in. Ken's mother looked out from the kitchen, "Hello there, Ken! I put your food in your room so you can eat it when you're ready," she said.

Ken spared her a glance before making his way to his room. He closed the door behind them and cursed under his breath, once again he was late. Those stupid reporters had made him waste valuable time, but this could be fixed. From what he could gather, Davis went to Odaiba Elementary, which ended a little after his own school. Taking into account the time it would take for Davis to walk home, – as that is obviously where his digi-port is – as well as meeting with his group, Ken should have roughly a good half an hour to forty-five-minute head start on his old friend.

The young Ichijouji made his way to his desk and turned on his computer. While the monitor was turning on, Ken looked towards the picture on his desk, it was a picture of a small dark blue-haired boy, wearing a simple light purple shirt and dark blue shorts, he was grinning widely. Next to him was an older blue-haired boy – presumably the older brother - with glasses wearing a forest green hoodie with a black long-sleeved shirt under it and grey pants, he was smiling gently.

The picture would have been perfect if not for the crack on the glass, going right over the older boy. Ken picked up the picture and looked at it, _'No more. I'll make sure what happened to you doesn't happen to anyone else, Sam. I will purify both worlds!' _he thought.

Just then, the computer finally turned on and Ken took out a black oval-like digivice and pointed it at the screen.

"Digi-Port Open," he said, not unnecessarily screaming the phrase as he was enveloped by the blue light.

_**-TIbD- **_

We see the Emperor sitting in a chair and typing away at his holographic keyboard. On the screens, various shots of the previous two battles were seen. Flamedramon ablaze and airborne and diving at a Monochromon, Digmon dodging Drimogemon's attack, Halsemon's Tempest Wing, and more.

"Luring him into a trap didn't work, he's already shown he can take down an army by himself, so power in numbers is out of the question, what else can I try?" the Emperor muttered to himself, "The whole reason for this is because of those accursed eggs! They have the power of the crests, I can feel it, – even if it's only a sliver of their actual power – there is supposed to be eleven crests, so that adds up the eleven eggs; three have been discovered so I have a possible extent of eight more enemies."

"My best shot would be to destroy them before they can gather the eggs, but somehow I doubt that's going to work, Miracle Boy there always manages to make a miracle happen when his _friends _are in danger," he said, sneering at the word 'friend.'

"Besides, I don't even know where the eggs are, so it'd be impossible for me to set a trap or relocated them. I'd just be wasting my resources," the Emperor muttered.

_**-TIbD- **_

"Alright everyone! Today we're not looking for trouble just trying to get as much information as we can and freeing some Digimon, alright?" Tai said enthusiastically, trying to motivate the team.

"Yeah!" TK and Kari said, mimicking Tai's enthusiasm.

"Hey look, Poromon digivolved," Yolei commented, looking at Hawkmon.

"So did Upamon," Cody added looking at the familiar armadillo.

"Yup! We're stronger here so we automatically digivolve when we get here," Armadillomon said.

"Cool, seems like you were right, Davis," Tai said, referring back to Davis' Digital World – Real World theory.

"Looks like it," Davis replied looking at his own partner, Veemon, who also digivolved.

'_Odd, even if they're stronger here, digivolution should be impossible with the dark digivice in play. Are we out of range - presuming there is one - or does it have to do with the new digivices counteracting the dark one? Or maybe it's something else?' _Davis thought.

Davis train of thought was interrupted with a loud yell, "TAI!" looking back, they saw Agumon running towards them at full speed.

"Agumon!" Tai yelled back, running to greet his partner.

"Hey, aren't you supposed to be at the camp?" Tai asked scolding, picking up the tiny dinosaur.

"Camp?" Yolei asked.

"Digimon Camp, basically a safe haven against the Emperor, Flamedramon kind of made it two days ago when he was leading us to safety," Gatomon explained.

"Yeah! Lots of Digimon are joining the camp, together we can beat the Emperor!" Patamon added.

"Izzy contacted us and told us you were coming so I went looking for you guys!" Agumon answered, making the younger kids and their Digimon refocus their attention on the orange dinosaur.

"Alright everyone, let's move out," Davis said, cutting the reunion short, he really didn't want to fight in the area they were currently at. They had very limited space to fight in this clearing, Flamedramon, Digmon, and Halsemon probably would take up half the space, limiting their flexibility. He started walking, with Veemon following closely behind and soon the rest of the team did as well.

_**-TIbD- **_

"Out maneuvering Flamedramon obviously didn't work. Most of the bug and insect Digimon will just get fried by his fire-based attacks, and most of my water Digimon can only fight in the water, but Davis is smart enough to know not to go near the water so that's out of the question. Halsemon and Digmon are airborne and land Digimon respectively, but they're very inexperienced so they're not a problem in the grand scheme of things," the Emperor said to himself. The only reason they were alive was because of Davis' babysitting and planning. "Plus, their attacks are more supportive then dangerous. So, all in all, I have to take care of Davis first, _which I already knew!" _he hollered the last part.

So far, he had yet to make any progress in finding a way to defeat his rival and the new group of chosen children. All of it just came down to the fact that Davis was still alive, he was the only reason they hadn't been crushed by his power.

"Maybe… I can't use water versus fire, but maybe fire against fire would work? Flamedramon is definitely one of the strongest fire users out there, and _definitely _stronger than any fire user I have under my command, but maybe multiple of them would work?" he asked himself. "It's worth a shot, at least until I can try and get some more Ultimate Digimon to fight for me." The holographic screens switched to show various prisons with many different fire Digimon and the Emperor browsed through them.

_**-TIbD- **_

The group stopped walking when they heard the beeping of digivices. Davis looked back to see Kari and TK unhook their digivices from their belts and examine them.

"Hey! This is the same map that Yolei and Cody had yesterday. And up ahead it shows the Crest of Light," Kari said.

"Mine shows the Crest of Hope in the same direction," TK added.

"More Digi-Eggs?" Tai asked.

"Seems so," Gatomon replied.

"But who could they be for? We already have ours," Yolei said.

"They're for TJ and Kari of course," Davis said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"How do you figure that?" Tai asked

"Well last time the Digi-Egg of Love reacted to Yolei's digivice and the Digi-Egg of Knowledge reacted to Cody's, so since they're reacting to TA's and Kari's, I'd assume that those are their eggs," Davis explained.

"But we've already got our Digimon," Kari said, afraid that if it was her Digi-Egg she might not have Gatomon as her partner anymore.

"Plus, they don't have the new digivices," Tai countered.

"The Crests of Hope and Light are two of the 'special' crests, they are very powerful, and it wouldn't surprise me if their wielders managed access armor digivolution to fight a new enemy, despite not having access to it before," Davis said, and as if reading Kari's mind he added, "Plus I already had Veemon as my partner so don't worry about already having a partner."

"So, you're saying it's possible we could join in the fight?" Patamon asked excitedly

"It's very possible," Davis said.

"Then let's go!" TK said. He really hoped that he could use the digi-egg, then he could join the fight, he'd prove the Emperor wrong, he _wasn't_ a useless weakling!

_**-TIbD- **_

The Emperor stopped working at the sound of beeping. He took something out of his pocket, a black oval-like device. It looked like the new DigiDestined's digivices, expect it had pure black grips and a dark grey body instead of white, the grey could even be considered a light black.

The Emperor looked at it and saw a map, with six red dots walking. He pressed a button on the digivice and the dots suddenly changed, instead of all of them being red, one changed to the Crest of Courage – orange, one to the Crest of Hope – yellow, one to the Crest of Light – pink, one to a golden "M" symbol that had two teardrops and a diamond above and under it. The last two dots didn't change into a crest, instead, they changed color, one to a dull yellow, almost brown color. The last one changed into a vibrant red.

"What?! What are they doing here? They shouldn't be here for at least," the Emperor glanced at the time, "At least another twenty minutes!"

"Wait, why are there only six of them? There were eight yesterday," the Emperor stopped as the lightbulb in his head went off, "They must be on an information hunt! That's why they're not moving a large group or else they might attract too much attention!"

"Dammit all!" he cursed. He wasn't prepared to face them yet, but if he left them alone and finished, they might receive valuable information could be fatal for his side; after all, knowledge is power. What could he do now?!

"_AHHH!" a young brown-haired boy yelled as he was running from a horde of Digimon with a purple dragon following closely behind, the boy appeared to be around the age of five or six. _

"_DAVIS! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT!" he yelled at one of his companions, a young maroon haired boy, he was also running from the Digimon, his square goggles dangling from his neck as he ran. _

_"MY FAULT?! KEN WAS SUPPOSED TO DISTRACT THEM! IF HE DID, WE WOULDN'T BE HERE!" the goggle headed boy screamed back, his blue dragon following him._

_"DON'T DRAG ME INTO THIS! WORMMON AND I PROVIDED TEN! TEN WHOLE MINUTES! IT'S NOT OUR FAULT IT TAKES YOU A MILLENIA TO SET UP A TRAP!" a dark blue-haired boy yelled back, his green caterpillar trying to keep up with him._

_"Okay, we can still stop this. Ken, Ryo, lesson number sixty-four-" the maroon haired boy started but the blue-haired cut him off._

"_I thought we were on fifty-six?" he said._

"_Really? I'm pretty sure it was like seventy-eight," the brown-haired boy said._

"_NOT THE POINT!" the goggled head roared. _

_The maroon haired boy took a deep breath, the six of them __**still **__running from the horde of Digimon, "As I was saying, lesson number whatever, when a plan fails and you have no ideas or you're in a pinch with no way out, JUST WING IT!" _

"_WING IT?! ARE YOU INSANE?!" the brown-haired boy roared._

_The maroon haired boy looked back, giving the brown-haired boy a deadpanned stare, "Yes," he simply said. _

_"NO, THERE IS NO WAY WE ARE GOING THERE WITHOUT A PLAN, DAVIS, THAT IT IS NOT HAPPE-" the blue-haired boy started but the goggle headed boy cut him off._

"_VEEMON DIGIVOVLE!" he said as he turned around and charged straight at the horde, his blue dragon friend following him as he glowed._

The Emperor facepalmed and groaned, he promised himself he would never, _never_, wing anything else again, but it seemed like he was going to have to break that promise. Well, at least he was nearly done with his plans anyway.

"Let's go Wormmon," the Emperor said as he typed something on the keyboard before pointing his digivice at the screen, "Digi-Port Open," he said as both of them were enveloped in a dark blue light. As the light faded, the holographic screen showed various red and black dinosaurs, specifically t-rexes, being released from cages. On the other screen, it showed giant spiders being released from similar cages.

_**-TIbD-**_

"Hey Tai, according to Izzy, there are eight crests, right?" Yolei asked.

"Yup! They are Courage, Friendship, Knowledge, Love, Sincerity, Reliability, Hope, and Light," the brunette responded.

'_And of course, Kindness, Destiny, and Miracles,' _Davis added mentally. He really didn't have a problem telling them he had a crest – no actually that was a lie, he _did _have a problem as that would lead to a discussion about his adventures in the Digital World, something he _really _didn't want to know. He felt bad from keeping it from them, especially Kari, Tai, and Sora but then again, they never asked so it wasn't his fault, right, _right? _

"So, there should be eight digi-eggs?" Cody inquired politely.

'_Yes, there should be eleven,' _Davis answered, mentally of course.

"Yep!" Tai answered.

Davis' instincts suddenly flared up and went haywire, giving him a split second's warning that something bad was about to happen. That and the fact that he suddenly felt that dark aura that has been around very dark ring gave him a _small _clue something bad was about to happen, some _fiery, _he could feel it. "EVERYONE DOWN!" he roared.

On instinct he grabbed both Kari and Cody and pulled them onto the ground with him, each giving a surprised cry, drawing the attention of the others; just in time to as they barely a millisecond after Tai and the others hit the ground, they heard a voice roar _**"Fire Breath!"**_From the ground, they could a stream of flames where their heads were just a moment ago before it finally stopped, but the smoke was still there.

Davis instinctively got up and took his digivice in his hand and got ready to digivolve at a second's notice if need be, just in case there was another attack; while he was looking for the enemy, he was also mentally browsing through all of the Digimon he remembered that had fire-based attacks and the ones that had an attack called, 'fire breath.' But he didn't tell the others to run outside of the smoke, there was a chance this was an ambush and there could be Digimon that could easily strike without them knowing, like a Ninjamon or Kogamon.

Finally, the rest of the group managed to get up, but they were coughing from the smoke as it had entered their lungs. Normally, a fire-based attack wouldn't generate smoke, but this one had the perfect balance of heat so it could burn them as well as produce some smoke to limit their breathing and vision

_**-TIbD-**_

The Emperor watched as Davis cautiously looked around to locate the enemy. He sighed. _'Guess the speed assassination didn't work. Worth a shot though,' _he thought. _'Alright, Plan B then. Stealth Assassination 6.4 – Fire Blast.' _

The Emperor pressed a button on his right gauntlet as a mini holographic screen appeared and he at super-human like speeds typed into it. He was sending an electronic message to the Tyrannomon to use his Fire Breath attack to produce more smoke, but he couldn't say it out loud lest he give away his position, so he settled for sending the message electronically via holographic keyboard where the dark ring would receive the message. He highly doubted this would work, especially since Halsemon could blow away the smoke easily, but he could dream, couldn't he?_ he _

_**-TIbD-**_

"_**Fire Breath!" **_the same voice yelled again. Instead of the blazing flames they had expected, they received a flood of smoke coming towards them. It had increased the coughing, everyone seemed to be struggling to stay conscious, even Davis who was used to staying awake for days straight had to struggle not to give in to unconsciousness, guess he'd been more out of it than he thought. For a second his vision blurred, and he stumbled but managed to catch himself – with the help of Veemon – before he fell down. There was something ominous of about this smoke, he could feel it.

"_**Fire Breath!" **_there it was again, more smoke came towards them, from a different direction this time. Like before, it seemed like the coughing had worsened, but the main problem was that now their vision was so clouded they could only see a foot in front of them. And Davis had moved away from the group to try and locate the enemy when he got up, so he had no idea where his friends were, and he couldn't use the coughing so locate Kari as for some reason he heard it in all directions. And his extra senses seemed to have disappeared as well, he couldn't feel the strong light that came from Kari, heck he couldn't even feel Veemon, and the blue dragon was right beside him! Yes, there was something definitely wrong with this smoke.

_**-TIbD-**_

'_Umm… that's a problem,' _the Emperor thought. While his plan of 'make enemies blind' worked perfectly, there was _one slight _flaw. They couldn't see him, and so he couldn't see _them_.

The Emperor broke from his thoughts when he heard thundering footsteps – of course, none of the DigiDestined could hear it from their smoke prison – and saw some of his reinforcements, two DarkTyrannomon, obviously equipped with dark rings.

'_Ah might as well take the blind shot and hope to get them in one blast,' _he decided, "Alright, all of you aim for the middle and use your fire attacks," the Emperor said. Not using his gauntlets and the DigiDestined and Chosen Child couldn't hear him. The middle was where most of them were, so that would be the best place to start.

_**-TIbD-**_

'_Dammit Motomiya, get a hold of yourself! Do NOT panic and start thinking!' _Davis reprimand himself. He closed his eyes and covered his mouth and nose to stop from more smoke getting into his lungs, they were all practically blind by now and trapped, so the enemy was most likely preparing to attack any second now.

Davis kept his eyes closed and focused, and as he felt a tinge at the back of his neck and his perception of time slowed down. Davis didn't know why or how, but after his first adventure from the Digital World, he special _powers,_ one could say. He could slow down his perception of time, but not time itself.

All it really did was increase his mental speed and dilated his perception, making it seem like time had slowed down and giving him more time to think. This "ability" also didn't cause him as much pain as the others.

Secondly, he seemed to do better in school. No, that wasn't right, he just seemed to understand the material in school better and faster, so classes were pretty easy for him. He was smarter and much sharper academically than before. But he made sure to keep his grades from being spectacular as then he might risk getting pushed up grades. He didn't know why he suddenly understood things better, maybe because of all the time he spent in the Digital World, helping him and his brain but he didn't want to risk somehow losing that 'power' while he was in college as a twelve-year-old and embarrass himself. Which is what he kept telling himself, of course. The real reason was because he didn't want to be separated from Kari, but no one needed to know that.

Then there were his athletic skills, to be honest, he didn't know if it was a "power" or it was due to all the training he did in the Digital World, but he was definitely more athletically built than most kids his age, and an exceptional soccer player. He could run much faster than most adults and even athletes if he tried and his reflexes also doubled from what they once were at his first trip to the Digital World.

He didn't know if his supernatural abilities were side effects from being in the Digital World or if it was related to his Crest of Miracles, but he knew he had them.

He doubted it was a side effect of the Digital World as after coming back and realizing about his powers, he challenged Ken in a soccer game a couple of times and saw he didn't show any of the symptoms he did. No extra speed, no extra smarts, no increased reflexes. So, he never told Ken about his powers, the young boy already had enough to deal with and he didn't need Davis to add to his problems

The Crest of Miracles, on the other hand, it was a wild guess. According to the Sovereigns, the power of miracles was an expectational thing and that even they didn't know the true extent of the power. It was possible that it awakened inside of him since he was Bearer of Miracles, and those were some "benefits" of awakening said power, if the power of Miracles was even real that is.

But right now, none of that was important, well actually it was since they could use to save him right now but what he meant is that he needed to focus on trying to save the others.

Veemon was right beside him, so Flamedramon was an option. But what could he really do? He had no wind-based attacks that could be used to blow away the smoke, – oh how he really wished he could use AeroVeedramon right now – his main priority was to get rid of the smoke or get the others out of here, fast. But how? Davis didn't notice as Veemon suddenly disappeared and all that was left was darkness.

The only thing in their arsenal that could get rid of the smoke was Halsemon with his Tempest Wing, but Yolei was either a hysterical mess or unconscious right now so that was out of the question. Shadows were forming from the darkness behind Davis.

For one of the few times in his life, Daisuke Motomiya felt helpless. He probably had only about thirty seconds in his dilation before the attack was sure to come and they would all die. He always found a way to get out of impossible situations before, but now it seemed helpless.

Dammit! He couldn't save anyone, not Tai, not Veemon, and especially not Kari. Why couldn't he think of anything? He was supposed to be the Miracle Tamer! The leader of the original Chosen Children, so why could he not think of anything?! Was this the way he was going to die, by _smoke? _Because he couldn't just get rid of a few clouds of _smoke? _

Is this how Tai, TK, – yes, he could say his name right - Cody, Yolei, Kari and their Digimon were going to go down? And it would be all his fault, he was supposed to be leading them. He should have told everyone to run outside of the smoke, but he didn't. Just because of the _slim _chance there was a Digimon hiding in the smoke that could easily kill them if they tried to get out, he let them stay in this trap. The shadows suddenly grew in size, now double the size of Davis and morphed into a sharp arrow, and got ready to strike, but suddenly stopped.

"No," Davis whispered into the darkness, opening his eyes. No one heard him but that didn't matter. He never gave up before and wasn't going to start now just because of some smoke. He may not have been in the Digital World for years, but he was_ still _the Miracle Tamer, the leader of the original Chosen Children, 'The Golden Child who pulled Miracles,' and that was exactly what he was going to do now, he was going to pull a miracle, a miracle that was going to save him and his friends. For a split second, those brown eyes changed to pure gold. The shadows let out a silent scream and they vanished, but for some unexplainable reason, Davis would not recall _anything _about the shadows after this fight.

And as if some divine being had answered his call, Davis _knew, _he knew how to get rid of the smoke. _'Absorption,' _he thought. _'Flamedramon was the original armor Digimon of fire in the ancient times. He controlled fire and to an extent smoke. If the ancient one could do it, then there is no reason VEEMON CAN'T!' _Davis mentally shouted the last part. He was back, back from the world of seemingly endless darkness. Veemon seemed to have lost consciousness due to the smoke, but that didn't matter.

Davis raised his digivice, _**"Fire Br-" **_the Tyrannomon started again – Davis finally managed to identify the attack and user – but was cut off by a mighty roar, **"DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!" **

_**-TIbD-**_

A shiver went down the Emperor's spine. He could feel an evil aura coming from the smoke. He had never been able to feel auras like Davis, so the fact that he could feel it, especially at this distance was disturbing. Extremely disturbing. The Emperor was about to order his slaves to run when he heard a voice, _inside his head! _

**"You will soon outlive your usefulness, Ken Ichijouji. And then I will dispose of you." **The voice said no more, but it was enough to freeze the Emperor completely, the only thing he could utter was a pathetic, "w-who?"

"**Me? You'll find that out soon enough, but don't worry about that for now." **And then the voice was gone, leaving the frozen Emperor behind.

The Emperor stay there still for several seconds as his slaves got ready to attack, even the rest of his reinforcements coming didn't register; what did however was the **"DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!" **And it broke the frozen Emperor from his trance. He was still in a fight it seemed. He shouldn't have expected anything less.

And for the oddest reason, the Emperor would not remember feeling the aura of darkness nor the voice inside of his head after today.

_**-TIbD-**_

Cody just sank to his knees as soon as the second fire breath came, for some reason he was overwhelmed with despair and he didn't even know why. His partner seemed to be completely out of it, Armadillomon was just frozen, unable to say or do anything.

Cody could feel a dark presence around him, he'd never felt anything before. Sure, sometimes he would receive a cold shudder and whatnot, but _this _was something_ evil. _And there was nothing he could to stop it, just like he could do nothing to save his father.

Cody let the tears fall for the first time in years. He just couldn't deal with the pain, the despair. What was causing this, and how could he stop it? There had to be something right, the good guys always won, right? That's what his father told him, but now he doubted those words. **"DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!" **A mighty voice called, shocking Cody out of his trance and giving him hope. Maybe there was a chance. Cody wiped the tear streaks off of his face and got up, ready to fight.

And like those before him, Cody would not remember ever feeling anything evil here after today.

_**-TIbD- **_

Yolei, like Cody, sank to her knees when the second fire breath and released the smoke. She didn't know why, she just felt like hiding somewhere or being anywhere but _here. _

She knew something evil was lurking around, waiting to kill her and her partner. She just wished they could hurry up and end her misery, anything to stop the despair she was feeling.

But then all of that went away for she heard Davis yell, and she felt a tiny flicker of hope burn inside of her, one that would drive away the darkness. And again, she would not remember any of this.

_**-TIbD- **_

TK was walking aimlessly in the darkness, like Davis he seemed to have been somehow transported into a realm of pure darkness. Patamon on his hat, unconscious, and if no one knew better, they would have thought the young Digimon had died. But TK didn't notice nor feel his partner, at all. In fact, he didn't feel much at all. Only _hollow. _Yeah, that was the best way to describe it. He felt like a dead corpse walking among the living, so _dead _inside. So, _out of place. _

He really did wish he was dead, just so he could end it all. For some reason, all of his hope was just _gone. _He had no urge to keep on fighting, no reason to stay alive. It was as if someone, or _something _had drained his hope, his urge to live, and turned him into this. And he couldn't do anything to stop it. Just walk in this aimless darkness.

**"DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!" **TK turned around to see a light in the darkness, a flame. The shadows were retreating from the growing fire as it attacked said shadows. And as if the fire had returned his hope, without a second's hesitation, TK ran towards the fire. He somehow knew it wouldn't hurt him, only help. Besides, it was the only light in this endless darkness. Unfortunately, the second he reached the other side, TK would forget ever being in this realm of darkness.

_**-TIbD- **_

Kari clutched her head as she dropped to her knees. Her head was killing her, she didn't even register the fact that Gatomon wasn't with her and that she wasn't in the smoke prison.

She closed her eyes, in hopes of taking a deep breath and calming down but instantly opened them when she saw a black ocean and grey beach the second, she closed them. She cautiously opened them again, but the ocean was still there. Not a calming peaceful ocean she had been used to, but an ocean that gave off a sinister, evil feeling. The worse part was that it didn't seem like an image, but it felt as if she was actually there.

Kari opened her eyes again, finally noticing she was in a different area, completely filled with darkness.

She looked around, seemingly calm but actually quite close to panicking. She started to walk, at first, it seemed fine but suddenly the ocean flashed before her eyes. She stopped walking, taking a deep breath and rubbing her eyes – convincing herself she was just tired – and continued to walk.

There it was again, the black ocean. Kari shook her head, she really was out of it, _'Note to self, go to bed the second I get home,' _Kari thought.

"**Oh, but will you reach your **_**home, **_**Child of Light?" **a slurry voice asked. Suddenly the ocean and beach appeared again, but this time it didn't disappear. Kari finally started panicking, she looked around for the source of the voice. Finally, she looked into the ocean and saw a dragon/squid-like figure in the black ocean, though it was only a silhouette as fog was covering its features. The figure was easily twice as big as Greymon, but the most frightening aspect was the glowing red eyes, unlike Veemon's, this one was filled with evil, just _pure evil. _

"W-What are you?" Kari managed to croak out, physically sick at the sight of the creature, even though she could only see the silhouette.

Before she could even move a muscle, a tentacle shot out of seemingly nowhere and wrapped around her, immobilizing the child of light and lifting her in the air.

"**Me? I am the ruler of this realm. And soon you will be my queen, Wilder of Light," **the figure replied through the fog.

Kari was too scared to utter anything at all, whatever this _thing _was, it was pure evil, it made her sick beyond belief. She just wanted to run, escape, do anything to get away from this demon.

A light suddenly erupted out of nowhere, and Davis' voice was heard, looking in the distance, there was a sphere of pure white light. The light caused the tentacle holding Kari released its grip and moved uncontrollably. before finally settling down. **"Hmph, seems as if the Child of Miracles has come to save you. No matter, I wasn't ready for you yet anyway," **the beast said, showing no hint of concern despite the fact the light had burned one of its tentacle's moments ago, even though said light was at least ten feet away.

Kari wasted no time getting up, this might be her only chance in getting away from this beast and she was going to take it. Even if it meant running straight into a sphere of light.

The dragon squid made no attempts to stop Kari from running towards the sphere, as if he could care less she was getting away.

When Kari was close enough, she reached out for the sphere and leapt towards it and for a few seconds, pure white light clouded her vision before she was suddenly back in the forest in the Digital World. Kari had successfully escaped the black ocean realm but would not remember ever being there.

_** -TIbD- **_

Veemon's eye opened at the sound of his partner's voice. **"Veemon Armor-Digivolve to…" **Veemon yelled as he glowed a brilliant red, and orange flames engulfed him. Flashes of Agumon, Greymon, MetalGreymon, and finally WarGreymon were seen before the burning figure changed to resemble a dragon man. The fire extinguished and Flamedramon appeared.

"**FLAMEDRAMON!" **the familiar dragon-man yelled.

"Flamedramon, absorb the smoke!" Davis yelled to his partner. Flamedramon didn't question his partner, he trusted Davis with his life, and this time was no different.

Flamedramon closed his eyes and focused on the smoke, trying to call it to him, and to his mild surprise, it actually came towards him. It was like when his fellow Digimon gave him the power to beat Millenniummon, their data coming towards him as he called it before he absorbed it.

In a matter of moments, all the smoke was gone and Flamedramon received a nifty power boost, not much, but still noticeable in battle. Just in time too, as the Tyrannomon and DarkTyrannomon regained their composure and attacked.

"_**Fire Breath!" **_The normal Tyrannomon spat out a sea of red-orange flames aiming for the DigiDestined.

"_**Fire Blast!" **_ The DarkTyrannomon spat out a near-identical sea of flames, but this one was noticeably darker, this stream of flames merged with the first.

Before the flames even got close to the group however, Flamedramon leaped towards them, _**"Fire Rocket!" **_he yelled, engulfing himself in flames. Flamedramon cut through the stream of flames like a scissor cutting paper.

Not stopping there, Flamedramon launched straight at the first DarkTyrannomon's stomach, knocking it down and destroying the dark ring.

Everyone got up and looked around, finally breathing in fresh air and being able to see. Flamedramon jumped back in front of Davis and the group, glaring at the Tyrannomon that held the Emperor.

Before Flamedramon could charge again, more thunderous steps shook the ground. Ten DarkTyrannomon and Tyrannomon were advancing towards the group, fast.

One of the Tyrannomon charged for the group, but before Flamedramon could retaliate, Gatomon met the attacker. _**"Lightning Paw!" **_She tried punching the Tyrannomon, but easily got swatted to the side; thankfully instead of hitting the ground painfully, Flamedramon caught the white cat and gently placed her beside Kari.

"It's no use, without my tail ring, I'm as weak as a rookie," she muttered glumly.

"It's okay Gatomon, just sit this one out," Kari replied, trying to comfort her partner.

"_**Slash Claw!" **_the same Tyrannomon yelled, turning his attention to Flamedramon, his claws glowed red as he tried to tear up the dragon man.

Of course, Flamedramon dodged the attack and retaliated with his Flame Fist, hitting the dinosaur in the stomach, knocking said dinosaur unconscious.

Davis looked back to face the others, "You guys look for the Digi-Eggs, we'll handle it here."

Tai seemed uncertain, Flamedramon was very powerful, but to take on twenty-one Champion Digimon alone was a bit of a stretch.

Kari was more vocal in her doubts though, "But Dav-" Davis just cut her off, he was not in a patient mood right now, "No buts Kari, just go. I don't have time for this."

For the first time, Kari actually saw the look in Davis' eyes. They weren't the usual playful brown; they were much darker and filled unbound determination. His hair also seemed redder than usual she noted. This was one battle she wasn't going to win, and they both knew it.

"Cody, Yolei, I want both of you to go as well, make sure none of the Emperor's slaves ambush you," Davis said before looking back towards the battle.

Yolei ran off as soon as he said that, with Kari going right after her. TK and Tai went after Kari as soon as she took off, their Digimon following close behind; the only one who didn't go was Cody and Armadillomon. He didn't want to fight and would gladly escape the battlefield, but he couldn't just leave Davis behind, his dad never left any of his comrades behind and neither would he.

"Digi-Armor ENERGIZE!" Cody yelled as Armadillomon was covered in rocks and flashes of Tentomon, Kabuterimon, and MegaKabuterimon were seen. The rock covered Armadillomon changed to resemble Digmon. Sure enough, the familiar yellow insectoid's drills broke through the rock.

"Cody?" Davis asked, looking back at the younger boy.

"I'm not leaving any of my friends alone, Davis," Cody said with determination, as Digmon got ready for battle. Davis didn't say anything, he just looked at Cody before suddenly smiling.

"Alright, you can stay," Davis said. Cody beamed before also getting ready for battle.

_**-TIbD- **_

"Dammit! I should have stayed with Davis!" Tai cursed as they ran, looking for the Digi-Eggs. He originally was going to, but when Kari had taken off, his brotherly instincts took over and told him to go after her so she wouldn't get hurt, things were dangerous when the Emperor was around.

"There's nothing we could've done, Tai," Kari tried to reason. And she was right, none of the "original" DigiDestined could do anything as their partners couldn't digivolve.

"But still…"

"Like it or not, we'd just be a liability if we stayed," Gatomon countered.

"At least this way, we can get to the Digi-Eggs and if Davis is right, we'll be able to join in the fight," Patamon said, nodding towards Gatomon who also nodded back.

Tai reluctantly agreed, running the rest of the way in silence, for now.

_** -TIbD- **_

"_**Rock Cracking!" **_Digmon used his drills to open up the Digital World, making most of the Tyrannomon and DarkTyrannomon lose their balance.

"_**Fire Rocket!" **_Following Digmon's lead, Flamedramon set himself ablaze and ran leapt towards a Tyrannomon. While the Tyrannomon may be resident to fire, they were not to physical attacks. Flamedramon's Fire Rocket, not only set himself ablaze, making his attacks deadlier, but it also temporarily increased his speed and physical strength, and he was going to use that boost right now. Especially since his early power boost from the smoke had depleted.

Aiming for the dark ring on around the red dinosaur's neck, Flamedramon kicked the black ring and instantly destroyed, freeing the Tyrannomon and knocking it unconscious. Not losing, his momentum, he went after a DarkTyrannomon. Unfortunately, the viral dinosaur was ready for him and apparently was smarter than the rest as well, as instead of using a fire attack, the black dinosaur sliced at Flamedramon when he was close enough.

"Grh…" Flamedramon was too close to the Digimon and couldn't dodge in time, not letting up though he, set his fist ablaze this time and went after the same DarkTyrannomon, this time the black dinosaur couldn't dodge in time.

Meanwhile, Digmon was having his own fun with some other dinosaurs, _**"Gold Rush!" **_Digmon let his drills go after the other stumbling Tyrannomon, each of the arm drills going in pairs towards a Tyrannomon together while the mouth one went after the DarkTyrannomon.

Davis and Cody were silently watching as their partners were evading flames, claws, and attacking the Tyrannomon. Davis shifted his attention towards the Emperor, he hadn't come down yet, and he didn't seem to mind that his slaves were getting thoroughly throttled. That was definitely worrying, _'What do you have up your sleeve, Emperor?' _

_**-TIbD-**_

"Hey, where's Cody?" TK asked, finally noticing that their brown-haired friend was missing.

Everyone stopped running, looking for the young boy and his partner. He was usually to quiet; it was hard to notice he was even there.

"He must've stayed with Davis!" Agumon explained.

"He has Armadillomon with him, we still have to get the eggs so let's go!" Kari said, cutting the brief conversation short. Every extra second they wasted was another second Davis and Cody were in danger.

_**-TIbD-**_

The Emperor still had yet to make a move, not even when three more Tyrannomon were easily taken down by Flamedramon and Digmon.

He didn't digivolve Wormmon to into Stingmon yet either.

Davis took note of all of this, already thinking of various traps they might walked into and how to get out.

_**-TIbD-**_

"It's over here!" Kari yelled as she ran inside a cave opening. Gatomon and rest followed behind.

Inside the opening, there was a circular elevation in stone, and on them were to egg-like objects.

"That has the Crest of Light!" Kari commented, looking at the egg with the flower-like symbol.

"And that one is the Crest of Hope," TK added, pointed to the egg with the half sun/ribbon symbol.

"Go ahead and try and pick it up," Tai encouraged.

Both TK and Kari nodded and got walked up towards their respective eggs and picked it up with ease.

"Wow, I'm stronger than I thought," TK said.

"Huh, that was easier than I expected," Kari added.

Before anyone else could comment, a sudden screeching was heard. TK and Kari looked towards their digivices and saw they were glowing green and pink respectively. Suddenly they started to shift, before they morphed into an oval-like shape.

"Hey, those are just like ours!" Yolei commented, looking at Kari and TK's new digivice. Both looked just like the new digivices, except Kari's had pink grips and TK's had green.

"Guess Davis was right," Tai said.

"Come on, use the eggs!" Agumon prompted

The Children of Hope and Light nodded, they held up their digi-eggs and simultaneously yelled, "Digi-Armor ENERGIZE!"

**~Que "Break-Up Digimon 02"~**

"**Patamon Armor-Digivolve to…." **Patamon was covered in brilliant yellow light as flashes of Angemon and MagnaAngemon were seen. The light shifted to resemble a Pegasus, before disappearing entirely. **"PEGASUSMON! FLYING HOPE! ** Standing where Patamon was moments ago was a brilliant orange-yellow Pegasus. He had golden gauntlets with jewels on his legs and a golden mask, letting his yellow mane come out.

"**Gatomon Armor-Digivolve to…." **Gatomon was enveloped by a blinding white light as flashes of Angewomon were seen. The light shifted to resemble a sphinx with wings, suddenly the wings came to life, blowing way the light. **"NEFERTIMON! THE ANGEL OF LIGHT!" **Standing at the same place Gatomon was moments ago, was a brilliant white sphinx with white wings. It had a mask with a small figure of a snake coming out the top, like a crown for a queen. It also had to gauntlets on its front legs.

"Nefertimon, you're beautiful," Kari said, admiring her partner's new form.

"Pegasusmon! We're not a burden anymore!" TK explained, as his partner nuzzled his head.

They turned around when they heard a throat clear, "You guys managed to armor digivolve and all, but we still have to go back!" Tai said, before turning back to Yolei and Hawkmon, expecting the new Duo of Love to armor digivolve. Yolei hesitated, yesterday's battle plaguing her mind. The Snimon getting knocked out of the sky, the Emperor and Davis fighting, and finally Stingmon using his Moon Shooter.

"_You're scared, aren't you?" _

"_You're scared to go back to the Digital World, right?" _

Yolei's eyes narrowed. She'd prove that moron Davis wrong, she wasn't afraid of anything! There's no way she'd let someone like the lights of Davis say she was weak! Before she knew what was doing, Yolei took out her red D3 and yelled, "DIGI-ARMOR ENERGIZE!"

"**Hawkmon Armor-Digivolve to…"**__Flashes of Biyomon, Birdramon, and Garudamon were seen as Hawkmon was covered in a light pink mist. The mist shifted to resemble the form of Halsemon as the last of the flashes disappeared. **"HALSEMON! THE WINGS OF LOVE!" **

**~Music End~ **

_**-TIbD- **_

'_Just a little while longer…' _The Emperor smirked as he watched Digmon and Flamedramon take down another DarkTyrannomon, not looking the least bit concerned.

"_**Fire Rocket!" **_Flamedramon knocked out the last Tyrannomon, not including the one the Emperor was using before he leapt back in front of Davis and Cody.

"Well, well, well. Looks like I'm out of dinosaurs, doesn't it?" The Emperor smirked as he jumped off Tyrannomon's shoulder and gracefully landed on the ground.

"_**Gold Rush!" **_Digmon used this to free the Tyrannomon without hurting the Emperor. The Emperor didn't even flinch when the Tyrannomon hit the ground, unconscious, and his smirk never left his face.

"DAVIS! CODY!" Davis spared a look over his shoulder and saw Kari flying on a white Sphinx. Flying on her right was Yolei and Halsemon, and on her left was TK and Tai flying on a yellow Pegasus, Agumon over his shoulders. Using his Digimon Analyzer that he reinstalled on his new digivice last night, he saw the two new Digimon were Nefertimon and Pegasusmon, ancient armor level holy beast Digimon.

"Give it up Emperor, your out of slaves and outnumbered!" Digmon yelled as the three airborne armor Digimon landed, standing next to Flamedramon.

"Am I really though?" The Emperor challenged.

"_**Poison Cobweb!" **_A raspy voice yelled out as a purple cloud shot at the DigiDestined.

Davis' eyes widened for a split second before his Dilation activated, trying to use his limited movement, he was trying to locate the source of the voice. There! A KoDokugumon was on one of the trees to his right, spewing out the poisonous gas.

Returning his perception back to normal Davis yelled, "Flamedramon to my right, three o'clock, a KoDokugumon!

"Got it!" Flamedramon yelled as he located the KoDokugumon. _**"Knuckle Fire!" **_Flamedramon launched three fireballs towards the gas and KoDokugumon. The flames burned up the poison and destroyed the tiny ring attached to the spider Digimon.

'_Wait, if there's a KoDokugumon, there must be a Dokugumon as well!' _Once again, Davis started his dilated his perception and looked around, but he didn't need to as he saw several Dokugumon and KoDokugumon come out from several directions in the forest clearing.

That was alarming; while Dokugumon weren't the strongest of the Champion level, nothing compared to what Davis had faced before, but they weren't jokes either. Their poison was extremely fatal and could kill most if it wasn't treated quickly and thoroughly. Worse was the fact they weren't weak to fire, the computer virus got rid of all of their elemental weaknesses so Flamedramon couldn't burn them alive easily.

What was even more alarming however was the fact Davis didn't sense them coming. During all of his time in his last adventure, his senses never failed him. The only time he couldn't perfectly sense when a dark enemy was attacking was when there was a huge amount of dark energy clouding the rest of his senses.

Like when Millenniummon appeared, the beast of space and time was emitting so much dark energy Davis couldn't sense anything else because every other dark signature was so minuscule in comparison. He couldn't even tell it other dark signatures existed since he was so focused on Millenniummon.

"We're surrounded," Davis growled, stopping his Dilation.

"Stop this Emperor! We've already beat you, stop this before it gets ugly!" Digmon yelled as he approached the Emperor, but it was obvious he was ready to fight if the Dokugumon tried anything.

In a trail of black, the Emperor appeared right behind Digmon at inhuman speeds before the insect Digimon could even process what happened.

"You're a pathetic excuse for an insect Digimon," The Emperor said in a cold voice before taking out his dark digivice mirroring his speed moments earlier and pointing it towards the yellow insect's back. **"DARK DE-DIGIVOLUTION!" **

Davis had to catch himself so he wouldn't fall to the ground. The amount of dark energy coming from the Dark Digivice was enormous, way more than what was used to evolve Wormmon the day before.

Digmon screamed as he was enveloped in purple light, no one made it in time to help him, actually, no one could even move, then the light suddenly vanished, revealing an unconscious Armadillomon.

Just as the light was gone, Davis felt a rise in the air, he felt lighter and it seemed easier to breathe. Even easier than before the digivice released that demonic energy. Why though?

'_Wait… Maybe…' _Davis realized.

Flamedramon snapped from his trance and quickly ran towards the Emperor before he could hurt Armadillomon any further. The Emperor again didn't even flinch when Flamedramon rocket towards him, picked up the unconscious armadillo and leapt back.

"Well, it looks like you can bypass the digivolution block, but a direct assault is a no-no," The Emperor said gleefully.

Davis growled again; the Emperor was right. He had a way to stop armor evolution, but at least it seemed to drain his digivice's power as he couldn't feel the same amount of dark aura coming from it as he did yesterday. Enough on that though, there was the _slightly _pressing matter, the fact they were surrounded by giant poisonous spiders right now.

For the third time in _one day, _Davis activated his dilated his perception. He really was going to need a good rest when he got home, especially since he barely got any sleep last night.

'_Alright, let's see. We're surrounded, huh what else is new? Dokugumon can spew out poisonous gasses and with that many of them, we'd probably be dead within a couple seconds. Dammit! This would be __**so **__much easier I could just use Ulforc- Never mind that. Maybe if we were surrounded by fire… Yeah, that would keep them in line.' _

"Flamedramon, surround us," Davis said.

The dragon-man looked at him for a second before nodding. _**"Knuckle Fire!" **_Using his long-ranged fire attack, Flamedramon quickly made a large ring of fire, trapping the Dokugumon, and the DigiDestined.

"Davis what heck!?" Tai roared, looking at younger goggle-head. Davis looked back at the group, _'Oh, right. They exist. Well, that __**might **__be a small problem...' _Davis apparently had forgotten he wasn't alone and that he had other "teammates" with him. He really was rustier than he first thought. Back in his day, he'd never overlook something like that. But then again, in those days he was practically alone, so who could blame him?

"The Dokugumon can't use their poisonous gas if they're surrounded by fire; if they tried the fire would overpower the poison," Davis quickly explained looking towards Tai.

"And you also trappe-"

Davis stopped paying attention as again his senses gave him a second's warning of danger. He tilted his head to the side, narrowly avoiding the Zoid branch that nearly speared his head. Not stopping there, Davis caught the safe end of the branch to stop it from moving forward and potentially hurting his one of his teammates.

Davis turned towards the Emperor, glaring at him. The Emperor smirked, "Enough talk, we have a battle to finish, and I am in need of a rematch."

Davis' eyes narrowed, remembering the day before when he and the Emperor fought hand to hand. It seemed like the Emperor didn't take kindly to losing, well neither did he.

But not trusting the group to survive two seconds while he was fighting without extra help, Davis said, "Tai, try to have Agumon digivolve," shocking all present including the Emperor. Didn't he know there was a digivolution block?

"Davis, there's the digiv-"

"Just trust me!" Davis retorted, looking for a Zoid tree and watching the Emperor closely at the same time.

'_Eh, what've I got to lose?' _Tai unhooked the small device attached to his belt and pointed it at the small orange dinosaur. "Agumon digivolve!"

No one expected anything to happen, but it did. **"Agumon Digivolve to…" **Agumon was enveloped in a great white light as he felt a surge of energy. **"GREYMON!" **The new Digimon let out a ferocious roar. Standing where Agumon was moments ago was now a giant orange t-rex. It had a brown helmet, fierce redeyes and blue stripes over its body.

Everyone stood dumbfounded at the digivolution. Davis was right again, somehow Agumon managed to digivolve, and he was ready to fight. _'So, the Dark Digivice stops normal digivolution, but if it's out of power, then it can't block it. It's possible the digivice also powers the black rings. One forced de-digivolution nearly drains the dark digivice, so how is he transmitting the dark energy over the Digital World? I need to add that to my to-do list.' _Davis concluded. _'Man, Tai's so lucky. Warp and Mega Digivolution take longer than Rookie to Champion. Added to the fact Veemon hasn't warp digivolved for a couple hundred thousand years – in his time – AND the time it would take to de-digivolve back to Veemon would leave him much more vulnerable than my liking.' _

Flamedramon smirked, it seemed like his partner performed another small miracle, honestly, he wasn't sure why he was even surprised. But enough of that, there's still a battle to finish. _**"Knuckle Fire!" **_Flamedramon hit one of many Dokugumon, lighting it on fire and destroying the dark ring. It also served as the whistle to start the battle.

"Yolei, TR, Kari I want you guys to attack from the skies. Cody, stay next to Tai and Greymon," Davis yelled before snapping on his goggles and running towards the nearest Zoid tree, leaving no room for arguments.

Pegasusmon, Halsemon, and Nefertimon all took off to the skies with their partners on their backs, Greymon and Flamedramon charged, and the Emperor went after Davis, the Emperor wasn't going to let this overgrown lizard thwart his plans. He'd find out how he managed to digivolve and then block it, for good.

Davis snapped off a branch from the Zoid tree just in time to block a strike from the Emperor. The branches clashed, making a _clang _sound, like if someone would hit steel with steel.

_**-TIbD- **_

"_**Nova Blast!" **_

"_**Knuckle Fire!" **_

Combing their fire attacks, Flamedramon and Greymon produced a gigantic fire sphere that took out seven of the Dokugumon in one go. "Go get 'em, Greymon!" Tai yelled as his partner shot out another ball of fire. Next to him, Cody was also watching the dinosaur battle, his partner cradled in his arms.

Cody glanced over to where Davis and the Emperor were clashing. He wished he could also be out there fighting, but he knew he was useless right now. His partner was unconscious, and he couldn't fight the Dokugumon head to head like Davis could, so instead he reluctantly did what his leader told him to do, stay put.

_**-TIbD-**_

"_**Equus Beam!" **_

"_**Cat's Eye Beam!" **_

"_**Eagle Eye!" **_

The three aerial Digimon used their flight to their advantage, using long-ranged attacks to attack from a safe distance. It was a sound strategy, but not a perfect one.

"Nice job, Pegasusmon!" TK praised. The yellow flying horse turned his head a little to smile at his partner. That was his mistake.

"_**Poison Thread!" **_

_**-TIbD-**_

"You've met your match, Motomiya. Yesterday you got lucky, this time I'll win!" The Emperor said as he forced Davis on the offensive by reputedly striking the maroon haired boy with his Zoid sword.

Davis pointedly ignored the Emperor in favor of concentrating on their duel. So far neither of them had yet to use their flash speed yet, and it seemed like the duel was going in the Emperor's favor as he seemingly had Davis in a corner. The goggle headed boy planned to change that, in a flash.

_**-TIbD-**_

"_**Poison Thread!" **_Greymon narrowly avoided one of the purple threads of venom from the Dokugumon. Flamedramon had gone off to take of KoDokugumon as they were being a hassle.

He growled, if he wanted to take out these eight Dokugumon without dangering Cody of Tai, he'd have to use his ace. It was a move that was a legend among the prime Greymon spices, not many have managed to use it. Agumon had been practicing it ever since his first adventure had come to an end.

It was time to see if all his hard work and practice would pay off.

"_**NOVA FLAME!" **_

_**-TIbD-**_

Kari looked around on to look for another Dokugumon to take down, there were several here. Way over fifty. But instead, she found one launching out a purple thread, _straight at TK and Pegasusmon! _

"TK, PEGASUSMON LOOK OUT!" Kari yelled as the thread was mere feet away from the Duo of Hope.

Down below they could here Greymon yell, something to do with 'Nova'. With those two simultaneous yells, the Emperor and Davis momentarily stopped their duel to see what the _heck _was going on.

And what they saw shocked them both. Pegasusmon was trapped by the threads and TK got knocked off and was currently falling from around fifty feet in the air. They could also see various wounds appearing on Pegasusmon and if nothing was done soon, he'd be deleted. Neither Kari nor Yolei could make it in time either to save them. The only bright news was that Greymon was _literally burning most of the Dokugumon alive! _Molten white flames were coming out of the dinosaur's mouth and tearing through the dark rings like they were nothing.

'_Figures, I leave them alone for less ten minutes and they already managed to get themselves in a nearly certain death situation! Morons, the lot of them!' _Davis dilated his perceptions so quickly try and figure out how to save the Duo of Hope from their near-inevitable deaths.

Pegasusmon was still being "strangled" to death, Nefertimon was trying to reach TK, but it was obvious she wasn't going to be able in time. and Halsemon finally managed to turn around and was trying to save Pegasusmon.

Flamedramon was on the other side of the clearing and even he wouldn't be able to leap in time. UlforceVeedramon was out of the question, the amount of time it would take for the warp digivolution was _way _too long.

TK was around thirty feet above the ground and had four to five seconds before he was going to have a _very _painful death. By the looks of it, Pegasusmon had around ten seconds before he was going experience deletion.

Then Davis noticed one thing, right behind the fall path of TK was a tall tree, if the blond fell five or more feet, the tree would be five to six inches behind him.

Taking a mental deep breath Davis stopped his Dilation and screamed, "DON'T YOU DARE MOVE, TAKASHI!" Instantly, TK stopped moving his arms and stayed perfectly still while falling. By now he was around fifteen feet above the ground and just in line with the tree. Flamedramon was ablaze trying to take out the Dokugumon that was attacking Pegasusmon, but he was being blocked by three others. Greymon was stilling using his Nova Flame, burning all the Dokugumon before he turned his attention on the one that was attacking Pegasusmon.

Using his inhuman speed, Davis ran towards the falling TK until he was just in close enough to throw something at him. _'Alright, here goes nothing. Time to see if my aim is still as sharp as ever.' _Aligning himself perfectly, Davis clutched the Zoid branch in his hand. Then aiming perfectly, Davis _threw the Zoid branch _at TK's wavering shirt collar with enough force that it actually pushed the blond back until he was pinned against the tree behind him.

At the same time, Greymon managed to destroy the dark ring controlling the Dokugumon, stopping his attack on Pegasusmon narrowly saving his life. However, Greymon wasn't able to stop him from de-digivolving back into Patamon who was caught gracefully by Flamedramon. All of this happened over the course of fewer than thirty seconds. Greymon was physically exhausted with using his Nova Flame attack, but thankfully he didn't de-digivolve.

Not losing his momentum, Davis used the distraction to quickly nod at Flamedramon before he took out the smaller Zoid branch that the Emperor threw at him earlier. Using his foe's tactics against him, Davis threw the Zoid branch at the Emperor, though only at his shoulder. The Emperor just lazily sidestepped the branch, but the attack had already served its purpose, a distraction.

"_**FIRE ROCKET!" **_Flamedramon's yell brought the DigiDestined out of their stupor, and the first thing they noticed was that they weren't surrounded by a ring of fire anymore. The next thing they noticed was that Flamedramon was ablaze and burning all the controlled spider Digimon. The fire ring had another purpose. To power up Flamedramon; while he _could_ absorb fire attacks from Digimon, they had to be weak and they didn't give him a power boost.

As for fire that Flamedramon himself created, they also wouldn't give him a power boost, _normally. _If he let the fire burn for a while, then he could come back absorb it later for a boost. And that's exactly what he did, and Davis planned.

Flamedramon easily burned the remaining Dokugumon as most of them were defeated by Greymon's Nova Flame. It seemed the Emperor had lost again.

Flamedramon finished the last of his attacks before landing in front of Davis who was watching the Emperor intently. He might have more slaves, or he might digivolve Wormmon again, they had to be ready for anything.

_**-TIbD- **_

The Emperor watched as Flamedramon burned all of his dark rings before landing in front of his former mentor and now rival. One oblivious person might think he was enraged by these turn of events, but they would be wrong.

While the DigiDestined _had _freed his spidery slaves, he had more, _many more _slaves. Added with the fact he'd seen more of their capabilities, such as Flamedramon's absorption, Greymon's Nova Flame, and the two new armor Digimon. With all this information he could devise a scheme to beat Motomiya.

He even thwarted their plans to gain information as well. And after he left, they couldn't stay as they had to get the flying pig medical attention. Speaking of leaving, it's about time he did that, now isn't it?

_**-TIbD- **_

Davis watched the Emperor intently, looking for any signs of aggression. While they won the battle, there was a high cost. They had to reveal abilities that Davis would rather have kept for later. They were also weakened right now, and if the Emperor had more slaves, Davis doubted he could keep the others safe as well as fight at the same time.

With the fact that the Emperor didn't even try and stop him from saving TK showed he wasn't taking this battle very seriously. The Emperor now knew many of their surprises and the DigiDestined were still oblivious to his true power, plans, or schemes.

This was but a battle won in a war.

_**-TIbD- **_

Out of literal nowhere, the Dark Digivice appeared in the Emperor's hand. And with a flash of purple and dark energy, Stingmon was standing beside his partner, glaring at Davis and Flamedramon.

Davis was astounded by the hateful look the insectoid Digimon was giving him, it was so unlike the kind, generous, and warm Stingmon he knew…

Davis mentally shook himself, he didn't know for sure if it was the same Stingmon and even if it was, he was his enemy now and that's all that mattered.

"Well, it looks like it's time for me to take my leave," The Emperor said climbing on Stingmon. "Till we meet again, Digi-Brats, Motomiya." And they flew off.

Davis held his hand up to stop any of his teammates from attacking and/or going after the Emperor. He didn't want a repeat of yesterday after all.

The two-remaining aerial Digimon landed and de-digivolved to their preferred basic forms. Satisfied that the Emperor was gone, Greymon also de-digivolved and instantly leaned on one knee. It was his first time using his Nova Flame in an actual battle and using it continuously drained him a lot. Flamedramon was the last of them to de-digivolve making sure none of the other Digimon ran off or there were some "surprises" the Emperor left behind. Of course, he freed TK before turning back into Veemon.

"Davis, why'd you let them go?" Cody asked. There was no accusation or anger in the young boy's voice, only curiosity.

"Look around you, Cody," Davis gestured around the battlefield. The gigantic clearing was filled with the unconscious bodies of the Tyrannomon, DarkTyrannomon, Dokugumon, and KoDokugumon. The grass was burnt, their Digimon, sans Veemon, looked exhausted, and in Armadillomon and Patamon's case, unconscious. Despite not looking as tired as the others, even Veemon looked out of it.

"Most of our Digimon are tired while the Emperor still had Stingmon at full power. Both Patamon and Armadillomon are unconscious and if tried to stop him, I doubt even Flamedramon could protect us and fight Stingmon in his current condition. Best case scenario would be we tire each other out and lead to an unnecessary draw, as well as put you guys in danger. The Emperor knew this and that's why he retreated." Cody and the others listened intently at what Davis was saying. Once again, Davis looked older beyond his years.

"Whaddya mean? I totally could take bug-face!" Veemon explained. While the comment seemed arrogant and to a certain extent, foolish, Davis and Veemon both knew it was to lift the spirits of the DigiDestined and their partners.

"Also, it's getting late, I'd rather not explain to my parents why I was out till like ten, and I doubt any of you do either," Davis said. "But enough on that, we still need to heal Patamon."

And with a bit of walking, explaining to confused Digimon, and healing herbs later the DigiDestined and Chosen Child were heading home.

"Take care, Agumon," Tai said, hugging his partner before standing up.

"Don't worry, I'll be careful!" Agumon explained before waving goodbye to his friends.

"Alright everyone, let's go home! Digi-Port OPEN!" Davis said as they were enveloped in a blue light leaving the orange dinosaur alone, unaware of the black ring that flew above him.

_**-TIbD- **_

'_This is definitely a special Agumon. Not only is it a partner of a human, but it can also digivolve to Greymon and use Nova Flame. I'll have to keep my eye on him, especially if he can digivolve even further.'_ With that last thought, the Emperor turned off his screens and got ready to go "home."

He could've captured the Agumon right now, but where's the fun in that? Besides, he wanted to see what else the dinosaur could do, plus it was getting late.

_**-TIbD- **_

The empty computer lab was suddenly lit up as one of the computers sprang to life and eleven figures came out of the computer.

"Hey Davis, how'd you know Agumon would be able to digivolve?" Tai asked.

"I didn't, but I suspected his dark digivice was what powered the dark rings and stopped digivolution," Davis said before gesturing towards the still unconscious Upamon. "But after he forced de-digivolved Digmon, he used a lot of power, so he couldn't keep up the block which gave a small door for Agumon to digivolve."

Tai nodded in understanding, they were one step closer to beating the block and stopping the Emperor. Checking the time, they saw they were in the digital world for nearly three hours. Which instantly caused Davis to go on alert.

"Oh crap, it's getting very late, c'mon we got to go, or our parents will worry," Davis quickly said before running out the door with everyone following behind. No one noticed that the rip on TK's collar was no longer there.

_**-TIbD- **_

**A/N: **AND CUT! Finally done with this monstrous chapter. Cheers! 73 pages and 27k words, my longest one yet.

Just one more quick note, if you're going to review as a guest, please sign it with a pen name so it is easier to distinguish when I'm replying to your review, thank you. Anyhow, on with the timeline.

**Timeline:**

**1993: **Davis, Ken, & Ryo get sucked into the Digital World

Ages: Davis/Ken/Ryo/TK/Kari – 6 Years Old

Tai/Sora/Matt – 9 Years Old

Izzy/Mimi – 8 Years Old

Joe – 10 Years Old

Cody – 4 Years Old

Yolei – 7 Years Old

**1995: **(Two Years Later) Tai and the DigiDestined (Minus Kari) get sucked into the Digital World

Ages: TK/Kari – 8 Years Old

Davis/Ken/Ryo – Physically 8 Years Old

Tai/Sora/Matt – 11 Years Old

Izzy/Mimi – 10 Years Old

Joe – 12 Years Old

Cody – 6 Years Old

Yolei – 9 Years Old

**1996: **(3 Years After Davis' Adventure) Diaboromon attacks the internet

Ages: TK/Kari – 9 Years Old

Davis/Ken/Ryo – Physically 9 Years Old

Tai/Sora/Matt – 12 Years Old

Izzy/Mimi – 11 Years Old

Joe – 13 Years Old

Cody – 7 Years Old

Yolei – 10 Years Old

**1997: **Gennai calls the DigiDestined to the Digital World

Ages: TK/Kari – 10 Years Old

Davis/Ken/Ryo – Physically 10 Years Old

Tai/Sora/Matt – 13 Years Old

Izzy/Mimi – 12 Years Old

Joe – 14 Years Old

Cody – 8 Years Old

Yolei – 11 Years Old

**1999 (Present Day): **Digital World Re-Opens; 6 years after Davis' first Adventure, 4 years after Tai's first adventure

Ages: TK/Kari – 12 Years Old

Davis/Ken/Ryo – Physically 12 Years Old

Tai/Sora/Matt – 15 Years Old

Izzy/Mimi – 14 Years Old

Joe – 16 Years Old

Cody – 10 Years Old

Yolei – 13 Years Old

**Reviews:**

**MatarasBloodKnight: **There's _a lot _more backstory to be unfolded, this is only chapter three after all.

**lt1023: **Yeah, in this one Tai's not going to be a _completely _dense idiot. He's just going to be an average dense idiot. And I have no clue what you mean, my Ken is a perfectly sane, responsible and respectable citizen. Not including the digital world though :P And thanks for the tips by the way!

**Guest: **I have way more plans for Takeru. All will be revealed in time, my friend.

**NinjaFang1331: **Thanks, man! And yeah, Davis _does _know what it means to be a leader this time around. He's not going to be a complete moron, that I can promise. As I said, I have many more plans for TK.

**Guest: **Thanks! Yeah, Davis is going to be a lot different in this universe.

**gorloxianfang: **Really? The only ones I've seen are Those Connected/Linked by Darkness and Digimon Adventure Tamers. And I really don't know how to answer your question since I'm only three chapters in, I guess my story will have a darker tone? And there might be a spore where it doesn't belong. 

**Tobias27: **Patience my friend, patience. Davis just met like half the group; he isn't ready to trust them yet. If he ever does remains to be seen. One thing I can say though is that I do plan on doing a story on Davis, Ken, and Ryo's first adventure but it will take a while before I start to even work on it.

**duskrider: **Who said they were able to avoid the darkness? No one ever escapes the darkness! And glad to see you're enjoying the story!

**psychlover95: **Davis' relationship to the older cast will be a lot different to show, and yes Matt is really happy Davis saved his brother's life.

**Character's Actions**:

**Tai: **Tai isn't very different in this universe, at least not yet. The only change so far is his relationship with Davis. Due to Davis' maturity, they don't have a mentor/student relationship, it's more like sibling relationship. They're equals, they're on even ground. So, don't be surprised if Tai treats Davis like an equal or vice versa, because they are.

**Sora: **Like Tai, Sora isn't very different from the original yet, except her close relationship with Davis, but that's about it.

**Cody: **Cody's also pretty similar for now, the only difference is that since Davis isn't a complete moron and actually mature, Cody will respect Davis more. And due to Davis' injury on his first day to the digital world, Cody at is kind of afraid of Digimon, at least for now.

**Kari: **The main difference in Kari so far is her close relationship to Davis and stubbornness. Since Davis is her best friend, she's bound to pick up some traits from him, so there will be times when she might act like Davis.

**Yolei: **In canon, it is implied Davis and Yolei never really knew each other but for some reason hated the other on impulse. I've tried to explain why that was. Other than that, like Cody, Yolei is also subconsciously afraid of Digimon.

**The Emperor: **The Emperor is _a lot _cruller in this version. He also hates Davis for reasons not revealed yet. The final thing is that this Emperor _isn't _stupid! *Warning Mini-Rant up ahead* Seriously give me 2 seconds here, in the show, the Emperor is implied as a genius, a martial art (or whatever other fighting sport it was) master, and apparently could play 20 games of chess at the same time and still win!

Yet he still gets thrashed by five elementary school kids… Yeah, that's not going to happen. This Emperor is cruel, cunning, and smart. He'll do whatever it takes to reach his goal.

**TK: **Oh boy, here's where it gets long. Imagine you're an 8-year-old child who gets kidnapped to a parallel world with giant monsters and you go on an adventure. During said adventure, you have to save a cute girl that's the same age as you from a vampire monster and said girl also has an angel Digimon like you. Then you go with your special group of friends with monsters (with the girl) to save the parallel world. During your second time in the parallel world, you two become great friends and even save her life! Everyone comments on how cute you two are and how well your crests fit together, and that you two would make a great couple one day to the point you actually believe it.

Only to come back four years later to find out that she has _another friend _who she considers her "best friend" and apparently, he knew her longer, yeah that's not going to go down well with you. All jokes aside, TK wasn't really human in the 02 anime. I mean he was shown as "the perfect guy" and served as a foil to Davis. But he really didn't get any character development, actually, no one (sans Ken) got much character development in 02. TK seemed to "perfect" that it seemed unreal, his only flaws were his connections to darkness, like with BlackWarGreymon and the Emperor.

That's not going to happen, TK _will _have flaws and character developments just like everyone. (including Davis) He will break, get mad, get jealous, get happy, get sad, etcetera.

As for his reaction in the last chapter, it wasn't really to do with his jealousy with Davis' close friendship with Kari. It was mainly to get back at the Emperor for calling his _"a pathetic weakling," _of course he already wasn't in a good mood due to Davis, but the Emperor really put the cherry on the top. He ran after the Emperor to make him pay/to prove (to the Emperor _and _himself) he wasn't worthless or weak.

**Davis (And to an extension Veemon): **And finally, we reach our main character(s). Let me just quickly sum it up in the words of Aura of Miracles, a follower and a fan of this story.

"… _Davis is not your typical DigiDestined and is at odds with the other DigiDestined like Tai and Kari. He is not just a DigiDestined, he is a shell-shocked, powerful, capable and battle-hardened war veteran who has gone through many battles and obstacles against all odds at a very young age. That, of course, contrasts the other DigiDestined, where he is basically an "elite" soldier that the Digital World has in its arsenal. He has Digimon-killing skills that almost bordering inhuman and insane and is capable of battling Digimon on his own without the help of his Digimon or other people. He is maybe still alone in the Digital World where is alone in many cases, but his Digimon kill count dwarfs all other Digimon kills that the other DigiDestined combined._

_While being a DigiDestined at the age of 6 seems cool, of course, we can't avoid it comes with heavy emotional burdens that caused Davis to become a shell-shocked veteran and a one-man army. He is still a kid and becoming the person he was now has its own costs of losing his childhood life. Moreover, he is still prone on making fatal mistakes and difficult decisions and still lives with a fatalistic knowledge (which he still carries today) that his next encounter with a wild Digimon may be well his last. I bet that Davis at some point during his first adventure in the Digital World cried or even driven into insanity if not with the help of his Digimon partner Veemon. But still, surviving on the digital world is a big achievement as whole, when he survived the war and defeated a gigantic mysterious god of time and space, it's not officially luck, it being officially becoming awesome. I would say that Davis will be more determined and violently driven to achieve his goal and protect everyone he loves and the new DigiDestined, even at the cost of his own life, not wanting to see them die or go through the trials that he went when he first went to the Digital World and lost many people and Digimon he once knew. He is physically and mentally tough in face of extreme hardship, and will fight alone even when isolated, and will not panic even if there are broken ranks within the DigiDestined." – Aura of Miracles_

That's basically Davis in this story so far. The only thing I could add is Davis will stop at nothing to achieve his goal, he can be cruel, and will show no mercy to those who don't deserve it. While this may seem a little extreme, you'll see why as the story goes on. That's all I can say about Davis without spoiling a lot so yeah.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this LONG chapter and extra information.

Till next time! PEACE!


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